Born To Be Brave
by XMimiSweetX
Summary: Planet Magnus is haunted by the past, and so are you. A shadow looms over you as the ghosts from your past come back to haunt you. But one question burns in your mind like wildfire: who was your father? Only Nefarious knows, and he's not talking.
1. Chapter I

**Here's the prologue and first chapter of Born To Be Brave! It's a short chapter, but it will catch as to what's changed and what's been going since the epilogue of Born This Way. This chapter is humor and friendship with a little bit of romance. This story will be much more lighthearted than the last, and possibly a couple chapters shorter****.**

**Genres: Humor, drama, family, friendship, and romance**

**Rating: T for violence, a bit of blood, explosions, language**

**Pairings: Ratchet/You, mention of Alister/OC**

**Summary: This story takes place during All 4 One. Planet Magnus is haunted by the past, and so are you. A shadow looms over you as the ghosts from your past come back to haunt you. But one question burns in your mind like wildfire: who was your father? Only Nefarious knows, and he's not talking.**

**Your POV:**

You jump off the roof of a building that touches the sky, and immediately start skating down the railways, high fiving anybody who leans of an air taxi or car to say hi. You move down the spirals, loving the head rush you get when you're upside down. You lean forward to get a little more speed. You shout out cries of excitement. You head off the grind rail and activate your hoverboots. The wind on your face feels amazing.

But it still doesn't compare to the rush of taking down robots and defeating evil. You miss that feeling so much. You hate having to sit around all day, even if it is with your two best buddies. You just feel so edgy and itchy for action now that Nefarious hasn't made a plan for any attack yet. You feel bored and honestly, a little bit unemployed. You sigh as you land. You feel like you're in a rut.

Life just isn't what it used to be, is it? You're glad to have Clank around-he's so nice, even if he is a little too proper sometimes, and he's even helping you translate your music player-and he's been good for Ratchet too, but you miss the adventure. You miss fighting every single day, and every time you wake up, you stand in fighting stance and only after a few seconds pass do you realize you're not under attack. Then you sigh and get dressed, ready to get out and move around, putting on a smile for Ratchet and Clank so they don't know something's up.

You reach for your music player in your back pocket-you don't even wear armor anymore, just a red jumpsuit-and click for your favorite song: Born This Way! Clank's helped you translate a lot of it, and helped figure out how to work the camera on it. You deleted all of the pictures of those people, ignoring the guilt you felt when you did, and you and Ratchet and Clank posed for stupid photos. You've got solo shots of Ratchet and of Clank. You smile, and you still hold on to the picture you have of Kaden and Alister.

_Alister…_

You miss him. He was the closest thing you had to a father-that you remember, anyway. You want to know your real father's name, just for the sake of knowing and getting your history, but you'll probably always think of Alister as your father. Besides, there's not a man in the galaxy who knows who your biological father is…err, was.

There's only an evil robot who's hell bent on killing you.

You sigh, and you start to head back home for the apartment you, Ratchet, and Clank share.

**Ratchet's POV:**

You sit back and play a holo-game with Clank, waiting for Arianna to come home. You sigh and pause your game when you think about her. You stare at the door. "Ratchet, is something wrong?" Clank asks.

You sigh again. "It's just…Arianna's gone all of the time and…"

"Ratchet, you must remember. Arianna does not have any memories of what her life was like before she met you. All she remembers is fighting and destroying the forces of evil. It's all she knows. She doesn't even realize she has the need to be active, and unconsciously does so. Fighting is her nature, Ratchet. Give it time. She'll see that there's more to life than hero work."

He's only told you that about five times now. You can't help it. You miss her. You just wish you would actually tell her you like her, but Alister did that with her mom, and it didn't exactly end well for him. You just don't want to risk anything with Arianna…but at the same time, you want to risk everything if it means just having a chance with her.

You miss it just being you and her. You really took that time for granted, didn't you? You're happy to have Clank back-more than happy, you missed your best buddy-but now it'd be so awkward telling Arianna how you feel now.

Arianna opens the door and waves. You know, it's weird having a girl around, but Arianna doesn't seem to mind only having guys for friends except for Tawlyn.

**Your POV:**

You've been doing a bit better lately. You've learned how to read and write (which is good), and Ratchet's been showing you the parts of a ship and taught you how to pilot Aphelion. You've got certified to carry a weapon within city limits, and you've been registered to vote. You just fly around town and just meet new people, stuff like that. You needed to get out; no more adventures left you feeling trapped like a rat. That, and getting out more helped with the nightmares.

"Ratchet, Arianna," Clank says, getting your attention. "Do not forget, we have that interview with Kip Darling and Pepper Fairbanks this evening."

You nodded. "Yeah, I almost forgot." That's another part about being a hero. You need to do a lot of work with the news people. At least it's just through satellite.

…

You, Ratchet, and Clank sit in your seats as you hear Kip begin the show. "Good evening, I'm Kip Darling, and you're watching continuing coverage of The Search For a Super Villain. Joining us via satellite are Ratchet, Arianna, and Clank, who defeated Nefarious over two years ago. Ratchet, Arianna, Clank, thank you for coming."

Clank smiles. "Thank you for having us, Kip."

"First he was dead. Then he was status: unknown, now authorities have upgraded him to 'alive and at large'. Will the three of you join the search team?"

Ratchet shook his head. "Clank, Arianna, and I talked about it, and we decided it's time to go back to the way things were, you know? Fixing ships, playing holo-games 'til three in the morning. Leave that hero stuff to the other guys."

"Like galactic president Qwark?"

"Yeah-or anyone else." Ratchet's smile quickly.

"Anyone else at all." You contribute. You remember Qwark very well from your previous adventure with him, and your memories are not very fond, especially when you had to go save him from the Agorians.

"Ratchet, Arianna," Clank says in a "watch-what-you-say" tone.

"What?" Ratchet whispers. "I didn't vote for the guy."

You nodded. "And I wouldn't have voted for him."

"I believe what they're trying to say is," That's just like Clank. He's always as respectful to everybody, even Qwark. "We have full confidence in President Qwark's abilities, and I'm sure he will not rest until Nefarious is captured."

Kip speaks next. "With that in mind, let's check in with President Qwark." Uh oh, you have a bad feeling about this. "At the presidential compound in Meridian City." You see a shot of Qwark sleeping on his desk that has pictures of Skrunch and one photo of Ratchet and Clank. "President Qwark? President Qwark?" You knew this was not going to end well.

Finally, Qwark shoots up and yells out, "She was taking a memo!" …You don't even want to know what he was dreaming about thirty seconds ago. Realizing he's on camera, he immediately straightens himself up and adjusts his tie. "Good morning, citizens. I was just uh…analyzing." He pictures up a box of his cereal and then talks about promising the figures look. Only, he just makes a dumbass out of himself when Kip points out that he's reading a cereal box. "Is there anything I can do for you, tax payer?"

"The defense force claims that Lawrence teleported Nefarious to safety, prior to the destruction of his space station. What measures are you taking to track down this fugitive?"

"Extreme measures, Kip. Every morning I wake up, I look around, I ask everyone I see, and so far-no dice." Oh, good lord. You see Zephyr walking past him. "Hey Zeph, you seen Dr. Nefarious?" He's gets a "Nope" in response. "See?" Qwark asks. "The guy's a ghost!"

"Then do you have a message for citizens who believe Dr. Nefarious is planning another attack?"

"Absolutely! There is. No. Danger. So relax, kick back, and put your faith in myself and vice president Skrunch."

You sigh. "We are so screwed."

**A decent-sized chapter. It's over a thousand words and four pages long, I like it. So that's chapter one, so yeah. I'm just gonna start a new nightmare for myself.**

**See you soon!**

**~Mimi**


	2. Chapter II

**Here's the new chapter of Born To Be Brave! This is when all of the chaos really begins. I'm sure you're all so excited (behold sarcasm).**

_/"Then do you have a message for citizens who believe Dr. Nefarious is planning another attack?"_

_"Absolutely! There is. No. Danger. So relax, kick back, and put your faith in myself and vice president Skrunch."_

_You sigh. "We are so screwed."/_

**Your POV:**

_I'm in love all right,_

_With my crazy beautiful life!_

_With the parties,_

_The disasters,_

_With my friends all pretty and plastered._

_Every night we're down to go out,_

_Wakin' up on a different couch._

'_Til the next night,_

_On the next flight,_

_Yeah, I guess we're doin' alright._

You sit next to Qwark in the Aphelion, Ratchet and Clank in the front. Qwark got an aware and he's been practicing his speech the whole way over here-here is Luminopolis, the city of light-quite literally, actually. You've just been tuning Qwark out with your iPod. Ratchet parks Aphelion (his ship, he drives, sucks for you), and you get out, taking a look at the city. At least you have something to do, though listening to Qwark go on and on may not be worth it.

"In conclusion," He says for like the fifth time. "I humbly accept this aware for subduing the insidious light-eating Z'Grute against near impossible odds! How's that sound?" He's dressed in his usual green outfit, but he's wearing his blue seat over it, the one he wears in his office.

Ratchet shakes his head. "Qwark, doesn't accepting an award for something you didn't do make you feel the slightest bit…deceitful?"

As if Qwark could actually take down a Z'Grute by himself. You've been studying a variety of species and monsters, and you've read about Z'Grutes. They're giant, light-eating monsters that survive off of light and can use light to heal itself and regenerate. And when you say they're giant, they're _giant_. They're as big as buildings. They're purple with a yellow pattern on their back, and have huge sharp teeth and claws.

"That depends. Does deceitful mean impressive?" Qwark asks. "Heroic?" He tries again as you roll your eyes. "Awe-inspiring? Fine! I don't care what it means. We're talking about a light-eating Z'Grute here! Do you know what this will do for my approval rating?"

"I've never even heard of an Intergalactic Tool of Justice award. Who did you say invited you?" Clank asked.

Qwark shrugged. "I don't know. The guy was all cloak and dagger on the phone." He says as you approach the frozen Z'Grute. "Look at him. Peacefully slumbering in the warm embrace of cyrosleep." Wow. It's a…lot bigger than in the pictures. Suddenly, you have a bad feeling about this. Every bit of your training is telling you this is a bad idea.

Ratchet takes a few steps forward. "I don't know about this. Maybe we should call Cronk and Zephyr."

You nodded. "Qwark, I know I haven't exactly been doing this for a long time, but everything I do is telling me we should get out of here." And frankly, whenever you ignore that little voice inside the back of your mind that tells you not to do something and you go ahead and do it anyway, bad things happen to you and most of the time to the people around you too.

Qwark pats Ratchet's head. "Oh, you two. So young, so unused to the spoils of do-good-ery." He walks up to the podium, which is suspiciously close to the front of the Z'Grute. "Don't worry, when you're a hero, you'll understand." You smile. He is a hero. Qwark claps his hands. "House lights!"

You hear a high-pitched noise and see a bright light. You look up at to see it's…Nefarious with Lawrence! Hm. About time. You've been looking forward to this for a while. They're up in the air, on an air craft. Nefarious jumps off and shouts into a megaphone, "Well, hello Mr. President! So kind of you to accept my invitation!"

Ratchet looks up at them with a smirk. "Dr. Nefarious. I was wondering when you'd be showing up. Is that your new space station? Looks a little smaller than the last one."

Hearing his words, Nefarious looks at his air craft (it sort of has the same design as his space station) for a few moments, and then rolls his eyes. "Oh, you're hysterical. Let's see you crack jokes inside the digestive track of a Z'Grute!" You and Ratchet look up at the Z'Grute, and your little voice proves to be right once more. Nefarious points his megaphone directly to Lawrence's ear and yells, "LAWRENCE!"

Lawrence, bored-looking and seems to think this scenario is predictable, picks up a little weapon. "Oh, goody. I get to reanimate something." He aims directly at the Z'Grute, and within a few seconds of the blue laser making contact, Nefarious laughs as the Z'Grute roars to laugh. He doesn't look very happy, and he's ready to go on a rampage.

Nefarious laughs. "It's alive! It's ALIVE!" The Z'Grute lets out a horrendous, ground-shaking roar and aims at Nefarious' ship. He opens his jaws, and literally sucks the light from it. The craft becomes lifeless and Nefarious and Lawrence fall to the ground in front of you with it.

You stare at Nefarious, who's now about a foot away from you, and he growls at Lawrence who's running away in the opposite direction. "Help me, Lawrence!"

"Apologies, sir." He responds. "I think it's time to tend to my resignation."

Nefarious stands up, and the Z'Grute roars directly at the four of you, as if challenging you. He turns his attention to the spotlights behind him, and latches onto them. He drains them, then rips them off and throws them onto the ground before he takes off.

Heading down the street (is it really a street? It's actually just a metal walkway), you find the Z'Grute eating…something. Is that a ship? …Holy shit, that's the Aphelion!

"Hey!" Ratchet shouts. "That's my ship!"

"There goes your ride." Nefarious comments as the Z'Grute throws the Aphelion halfway across the city.

To get closer to the Z'Grute, it requires some jumping and then a couple of hookshots. You wait for the bridge to activate, and then proceed, just in time to see the Z'Grute rip off a hamburger sign. You hear Kip Darling and Pepper Fairbanks covering the story, and it turns out the entire Polaris defense force is away at some Single and Hating thing in Meridian City. So you're fucked.

Worst of all, you have to work alongside Nefarious and Qwark. Qwark is a complete idiot and he's almost completely useless. And then there's Nefarious.

He's the evil mastermind bent on universal domination, and hell bent on killing you and Ratchet. And it's because of him that Alister's dead. Even worse than that, he knows who your real father. You remember his exact words before he flung you into space on an asteroid.

"_You. Girl. You're just like your father."_

At least now you've got the chance to get him to talk. That's one positive thing about him not being dead; you do have a chance to find out who your real father is. But no matter what happens, Alister will always be your father.

After getting passed the Lumenoids (who were not happy after the Z'Grute ripped their tank out of its outlet), you head up the stairs and activate the two switches with a mortar slam to both. The bridge is up, and you find the Z'Grute on a building, munching on the Lumenoids. He sees you, and throws the tank at you, which shatters and gets the Lumenoids even angrier.

"It's headed for the airway!" Ratchet yells. "Come on! We gotta catch up."

You nodded. Ratchet and Clank ring the bell, and you hear a horn as the air taxi rides up to your position. You all board, but when you ride down in between the buildings with the fans, you discover the wheel's broken.

"The steering's out. Shift your weight; it'll bend the gravity coils." You nodded, following Ratchet's order.

Avoiding the fans is easy, but avoiding the air cars is a lot more difficult. Why are they even flying that low? When you get a closer look, you see red sirens on the cars. Now you see that they have to fly low in order to avoid traffic and get to their destination as soon as possible.

Fortunately, it's only a few minutes before you find the Z'Grute surrounded by the cops. He smashes the air taxi, and the five of you land on the grind rail. You're happy about it. You're in your element! At the end of the rail (which ended way too soon for you), you find three more switches.

"Hey, I know this!" Qwark says. "This is my Friendship Through Firepower Initiative!"

You roll your eyes, remembering how well this worked out.

You activate the switches, and the door with what looks like an atom on it opens up.

…

You don't dare use your new Combuster, because you remember what happens whenever you try to attack someone indirectly. Either you get hurt, or somebody else does-usually that "somebody else" is Ratchet, and you don't want to give him the brain damage you have.

Getting past the doors, you find robots waiting for you. Taking them out, your heart feels freed from a cage. This is what you were missing. You can't say you're surprised; sitting around and quietly reading a book is not you.

_No matter gay, straight, or bi,_

_Lesbian, transgendered life,_

_I'm on the right track,_

_Baby, I was to survive!_

_No matter black, white, or beige, _

_Chola, or orient-made,_

_I'm on the right track,_

_Baby, I was born to be brave!_

To get past the next door, you have to override both generators and then there are missile robots, which are always a lot of fun because you had to dodge and jump, but there are no walls for you to jump off of. Then more Lumenoids appear, literally out of nowhere. You take the elevator to the next level, where more robots are waiting for you.

Man, you missed that. That sound of metal hitting the ground, the smell of destruction. Taking down robots really is the only life for you. But…you don't think you could do this without Ratchet, and you wouldn't want to.

You've also been collecting bolts from the various crates that are around. Maybe you'll use them to buy some new armor. You're wearing an outfit that looks like Ratchet's, but instead it's red and a light purple. Oh, and you're wearing your hoverboots. They're actually the only pair of shoes you own.

Using a hookshot that seemed to actually be alive, you finally got up with the Z'Grute. It's not happy to see you, and it attacks by charging up the panels you're standing on. Halfway through the battle, the Z'Grute uses a generator to heal itself, but when Nefarious, Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark shoot at it, it explodes and the Z'Grute takes massive damage. The Z'Grute falls, and with it, the bridge you're standing on. You need to move fast, because the bridge is falling.

You use the platform to launch yourselves over to the next grind rail, only you get an unpleasant surprise when you find the Z'Grute literally spitting electricity balls behind you. Thankfully, it's stopped by poles.

"Hm. Perhaps we can make use of those fusion turrets." Hearing Clank's voice, you look up and see missile launchers on top of a skyscraper. You smirk, remembering the good 'ol days.

However, before you can access the tower, the robots and the Z'Grute find you first. It's not pretty; the Z'Grute is attacking more often, and then lashes out multiple attacks at once. Even with five against one, it still takes a couple hundred shots to get that thing to go down. Before you continue, you use the Nanotech you find to heal your wounds.

You ride the elevator which forms a dome, but it's only a few seconds before the Z'Grute attacks once more. He pounds on the glass, but just before it cracks, he leaps off onto the tower opposite Zogg Tower. The generators on that tower burst into life, and emit a strong blue light as the Z'Grute heels itself.

Before you can activate any of the switches, you need to destroy the robots that are waiting for you. And there are a lot of them. One gets a little too close to Ratchet who's distracted by another. You come up behind it and smash it to pieces. "Get away from him!" You snap.

He smiles. "Thanks Arianna."

"Not bad for a carbon-based lifeform." Clank laughs.

You activate the four switches, and the turrets appear. Of course, everything has to get that much more difficult; first, you need to take out the light generators, but balls of yellow electricity are coming right at you. You need to fire at them or…get a nasty shock-literally. Taking out the generators and the blue ball of light the Z'Grute is feeding off of, it creates a mass explosion that knocks the Z'Grute onto the platform you're on. He's barely gripping onto. You and Ratchet slam onto his hands and he falls-falls hard, letting one final cry of agony as he hits the platform about two hundred below you.

…

Getting down there, you see the Z'Grute isn't dead, just unconscious. You stare at it for a few moments, before Nefarious tries to get away. "Well, it's been a lot of fun catching up, but I gotta bounce." Before he can leave, Qwark stops him.

"Not so fast, Nefarious." He says, ripping off his tie. Then he really gets up in Nefarious' face. "You've done some underhanded things in your time, but this means war! I'm starting to think there may not even be an Intergalactic Tool of Justice Award!" It's a good thing you're not allergic to stupidity.

Ratchet gives a mock introduction. "Ladies and gentleman, your president."

You hear a loud boom that sounds just like thunder that makes you jump a little bit. You look up to see a giant machine; it's as big as a moon, dark colored with blue lights and one red eye. You see at least three or four claws. You all turn to Nefarious who stares up at in wonderment. He shakes his head, pointing at it. "That's not one of mine."

You're too distracted, and by the time you see one of the claws coming for you, it's too late. You only have time to scream with the others and then everything just goes black.

**Chapter two, and it's only noon. I did update Wonderland, which is always good. Well, nothing else to say.**

**See you soon!**

**~Mimi**


	3. Chapter III

**This chapter is for Hubbe for adding my story to his favorites and for Lady Cosmic Brownie and X-Butterfly-Hime-X for adding my story to their alerts. C: Thanks so much!**

_/_ _You hear a loud boom that sounds just like thunder that makes you jump a little bit. You look up to see a giant machine; it's as big as a moon, dark colored with blue lights and one red eye. You see at least three or four claws. You all turn to Nefarious who stares up at in wonderment. He shakes his head, pointing at it. "That's not one of mine."_

_You're too distracted, and by the time you see one of the claws coming for you, it's too late. You only have time to scream with the others and then everything just goes black./_

**Ratchet's POV:**

"_Disengaging primary cyrofeed."_

Light shines through your eyelids, and you yawn. Your head feels funny. You must've slept wrong last night. "Clank, get the light, wouldja?" You open your eyes, and only then do you realize the gravity of your situation. You're hanging upside down (which is why your head feels weird) and you're in some kind of facility. "Oh boy." Looking over, you see your best friend. "Clank, where are we?"

He looks around. "I do not know."

Looking around, you don't see her. "Where's Arianna?" Is she okay? Is she even here?

You hear a groan and to your left, you see Arianna still looking asleep. "How do we get down from here?" She calls. "All of the blood is going to my head!" Yeah, she's fine.

"Ratchet, Arianna," Clank calls. "Have you located Qwark?"

**Your POV:**

Over in the distance, you see a tangled up Qwark. "A little help here, someone? I think my thing is broken." He said, pointing up at it.

Ratchet does not look thrilled. "Oh, perfect. Can this get any worse?"

And, of course, it can. You see Nefarious, being held up by both of his legs and an arm, and the fear must've caused him to overheat and go haywire because you're hearing _Lance and Janice_.

"_Oh Lance! Kiss me, love me, hold me like you used to before you became a flesh-eating zombie!"_

That show is so weird. Really. "Qwark," Ratchet asks, seeing as how he's closest to Nefarious. "Wouldja…?"

He doesn't have to finish his sentence before Qwark gives Nefarious a sucker punch, and Nefarious spins around in a circle. You can't help but be jealous. "You know Ratchet, I could've done that."

"You still mad?" He asks.

"You have no idea."

Nefarious snaps out of it, and he's not happy. "You twit!" He snaps at Qwark. "You dare lay your squishy hands on me? When I get down from here, I'll rip you in half!" How are you squishy? Organic lifeforms have bones, you're not squishy.

You, Ratchet, and Clank look for a way to get yourselves free when you hear a little voice calling from the platform below you. "'Cuse me?" The three of you look down to see a little blue girl dressed in orange with a helmet that looks too big for her. "Whatacha doin' up there?"

"Hey, hey little girl," Ratchet calls. "Can you get us out of here?"

She adjusts her helmet and agrees, giving him a quick solute. She picks up the little orange device she has with her; it has a handle and it's about as big as she is. She holds it up and turns it on; you can see wind going into the device as she pulls out the green and black switch. It's only a second before the five of you hit the ground with yells and land rather painfully. "We should go before she finds out you're here." The little girl pulls at the switch again. "Come on. Head through the sector seven air vent, and we'll rendezvous on the south side. A galactic scout never leaves before her mission is complete!"

The launching pad flips over, and you use to get to the next platform. Heading down the hall, you take the elevator down. You see a blue and orange scanner minion, and the blue light it emits hurts your eyes a bit.

"_Organic lifeforms detected. Reroute to creature pen for probing and experimentation."_

That does not sound good.

"Probing?" Ratchet yells. "Wait, wait, wait-we're not test subjects, we're um…uh…new trainees." He says it in the form of a question.

"_Very well. Rerouting to training lab for gadget certification."_

Getting to the training lab, you hookshot to get to the other side of the chasm. The computer seems pleased.

"_Excellent work. You will make fine minions."_

On the computer screens on the walls, you see a single star. The door opens up, and you see that little girl again. "Over here!" She calls. "You guys are pretty smart. She thinks you're one of them."

"_An interloper has been located in the sector two training lab."_

"Aw man." The little girl starts. "That's my cue." She starts to pull out the green and black switch to open the door. "Head through the lab to the equipment room. I left you a present on the charging station."

"What about you?" Ratchet asks.

"The minions are onto me. I'll lose them in the feeding station and meet you over by the south exit."

You nodded and the five of you headed to three hookshots and the next platform.

…

Getting across the platform, you head through the door that shuts behind you. The room you're in has robots on the wall, and in the center, there's a charging station with five of those gadgets the little girl has been using.

Qwark picks up one and a letter that was attached to it. "Hmm, a letter," He gives a shout of glee. "And it's written in macaroni!" It must be a little hard to read, because his sentence comes out a bit broken. "Dear Lombax, these Vac-Us will come in handy. Love Susie." He tosses the letter while you, Ratchet, and Clank each pick one up. He flicks a switch and Nefarious (who was previously just standing there with his hand to his chin, examining the Vac-Us) gets sucked in. And he's not happy.

"Let me go, you half-wit!" He snaps. He tries to get out, but just keeps getting sucked back in. You and Ratchet just exchange glances and watch them argue.

"I'm trying!" Qwark snaps back. "Maybe if I just…" He presses a button, and Nefarious is sent flying forward and he crashes into crates.

Which only gets him even more pissed off. "Miserable, stupid, _incompetent_-"

You growl at him in response. You never thought you'd actually defend Qwark, but you do have more respect for him than you do Nefarious. "Please, you deserved that! After all you've done, you deserved worse than that. It's because of you, Alister's dead!" You snap.

Before you can turn him into scrap metal like you've always wanted to, Clank interrupts you with his diplomatic voice before you and Nefarious can destroy each other. "Please, we must all stay calm. We are going to have to work together until we find out where we are, and how to get home."

You growl at Nefarious one more time, who returns the nasty scowl, and then you groan. "Well, Clank's right." He's _always_ right.

**Ratchet's POV:**

You've never seen Arianna act like that. She's usually just happy and upbeat, but she seemed so…hurt and angry-you've seen her mad, but never _that_ mad. But you can't say you're surprised. The only people Arianna really remembers are you, Clank, and Qwark. She had Alister-he was like a father to her-but he's gone. You knew something was up. She's still not over it. You're not entirely sure if she's ever going to be.

You wonder if Arianna will ever get her memories back. Amnesia usually wears off if the person who has is around familiar people and places, but you have no idea where Arianna comes from. It's from her amnesia and being around Alister that allowed her to remember Tachyon's attack on the Lombaxes.

You can't blame her for hating Nefarious-she probably hates him more than you do. You remember Nefarious' words. He knows who her father is, and now Arianna has the chance to find out. All you can do is be there for her when she needs you.

Nefarious growls and reluctantly agrees, grabbing a Vac-U.

…

**Your POV:**

You defiantly lost your cool-and you know you're gonna regret that even more later when Ratchet asks if you're okay and you have to lie to him again, and you're reminded that you need to keep your emotions in check.

Getting on the platform, it takes down the hallway when the computer voice calls out once more.

"_Congratulations on completing your training. You will now be transported to sector twelve for celebratory probing."_

Not much of a celebration, is it?

Fortunately, Susie comes to the rescue. "Don't worry, a galactic scout never leaves an ally behind." She pulls out the versa-plug (those green and black things you keep seeing) and the platform you're riding comes to an abrupt halt and slides into the wall.

And that's when everything spirals downward.

"_Intruder alert. Intruder alert. All units converge on the minions in sector three."_

"Mission complete!" Susie says with a smile. "Come on! It's time to escape." You're thankful for it, because that red alarm is really obnoxious.

Opening the door, you find Rift-Jumper minions waiting for you, looking as "menacing" as they can. You go ballistic, and you, Ratchet, and Clank charge through them, armed and ready. It certainly does make you feel better.

"_Attention interlopers. You have been found guilty of impersonating a minion. You are hereby ordered to stand down and prepare to be executed."_

It only takes you a couple of mortar tosses to get out of there.

Getting into the next room, there's a Blade Minion-it likes just like the switches you've been hitting, it's just spinning and…of course, it has blades. But it works just like the switch-all it needs is a mortar toss or two.

"_You must comply with my stand down order or I will be forced to take drastic actions."_

You flip her off. Getting past more Blade Minions, you hear her voice one more time.

"_Remember those gold stars I gave you for gadget certification? Look-no more gold stars. Try putting that on the fridge."_

You look up at the screen and see each of the stars disappear one at a time.

What the fuck ever!

…

Finally getting out of there, you see it's…been ripped apart. In the distance, you see pieces of land with either broken, massive pieces of technology, or a red tree. There's an orange machine in the distance with two arms that's emitting blue wavelengths. There are some broken cables and wires hanging in the air.

"The gravity here's…broken." Ratchet says.

"Interesting," Clank nodded. "Something appears to have disrupted the gravity in this region."

You only nodded, taking a few steps forward-and only naturally, something falls from the sky and almost kills you.

Yep, just like old times.

Whatever just fell from the sky, it unfolds into four plates and a satellite and two holographic blue images of Cronk and Zephyr appear.

"_Hello rookies!"_

**Yeah, chapter three is done. And no reviews so far! Whyyyyyyy, *why you do dis face***

**See you soon!**

**~Mimi**


	4. Chapter IV

**This chapter is for X-Butterfly-Hime-X, for reviewing my story (and enjoying the last). In this chapter, we find out something that's a bit interesting about Nefarious.**

_/You only nodded, taking a few steps forward-and only naturally, something falls from the sky and almost kills you._

_Yep, just like old times._

_Whatever just fell from the sky, it unfolds into four plates and a satellite and two holographic blue images of Cronk and Zephyr appear._

_"Hello rookies!"/_

**Your POV:**

You and Ratchet smile at the images of Cronk and Zephyr. It may just be a holographic projection, but this is the first good sign you've seen all day. God, why did you even go down there to look at the Z'Grute? Why couldn't you have just left it to authorities?

You're not the only one who's overjoyed. Ratchet takes a few steps forward. "Cronk! Zephyr! Man, it is good to see you guys." It is really good to see them. It's been a while.

Zephyr smiles. "It's good to see you too, kid. How's everything going with N-e-f-a-"

"I can _spell_, you morons." Nefarious growls behind you.

"What is this thing?" Ratchet asked. You examined it a little closer. It looked shiny and new; it's a black color with blue lights.

"This do-wa-hicky is an Apogee Industries Communication Pod. We deployed them all around the planet so we can communicate and send supplies." Cronk explained.

"So you know where we are!" Qwark yelled, running forward and shoving Ratchet out of the way. You give him that dirty look you usually do. "That's great! You can come rescue me! Er-us-collectively." Nefarious and Ratchet join you in glaring at him once you get Ratchet off the ground.

"Uh, no can do, Mr. President. You see, we tracked your nav-unit to planet Magnus, but someone…" Zephyr shoves Cronk a bit with his shoulder. "Fell asleep and plotted us right into a durn asteroid field!"

Well, in any case, they should watch where they drop those things; your fur is still standing on end from yet another one of your near-death experiences.

"We're sort of stranded above the stratosphere awaiting rescue." Cronk continued with a slump of his shoulders. "But don't worry, when they get us, we'll get you. In the meantime, we've hacked into an old spy satellite to monitor your positions.

"AND we've set up a com-link with GrummelNet. If you need weapons, just access one of these pods and wire us some bolts. We'll teleport the supplies to the surface."

"Find a safe spot and hang tight, rookies. We'll get you off this rock, and you-" Cronk points to Nefarious, who's glaring at the ground and has his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm watching you." Cronk and Zephyr disappear, but Cronk comes back with a "Whippersnapper" before leaving for real.

You step on one of the pads, and it glows red. A screen pops up. You see two circle-shape head portraits of Cronk and Zephyr. They're doing one of those commercials for a new weapon, like the guy from GrummelNet did.

"_The GrummelNet Arc Lasher is the most advanced kinetic energy whip on the market. A single flick of the whip stuns your enemies into submission."_

"_Activating multiple whips will let out a blast of energy that stuns nearby foes." _

You think about that for a second. Ratchet was always the one with the arsenal (because you didn't trust yourself with any missile launcher), so you just used your omniwrench. You've always needed to be up close (because your aim sucks) which leads to you getting injured easily. If you had some like the Arc Lasher, then you could still attack directly, but keep a farther distance.

"I'll take it." You say with a smile, eagerly handing over the bolts you've gotten from crates. In a few seconds, it becomes tangible in your hand.

"Be careful with that, Arianna." Ratchet says, standing next to you. "Don't want you to hurt yourself."

You scoff. "How could I hurt myself with this?"

He smirks. "Knowing you, you'd find a way." You only stick your tongue out at him in response.

**Ratchet's POV:**

She would find a way. You remember when she first used her hoverboots. She crashed into a rock, and for a split second, you thought she was dead. She is not the most graceful figure, even if she's gotten a bit less clumsy. Thinking of that day, you remember Alister. He meant a lot to you, he still does, but he meant everything to Arianna. She keeps his weapon in a glass case at home in her room. She only uses his hoverboots and never leaves without the picture of him and your dad, Kaden. You remember when you gave it to her.

_You open the door to see Arianna sitting on the edge. She's staring at the glass case that has Alister's weapon inside up on the wall. You can hear her music and you know she didn't hear the door creak open. _

_Now that it's over,_

_I just wanna hold her._

_I'd give up all the world to see_

_That little piece of heaven lookin' back at me._

_Now that it's over,_

_I just wanna hold her._

_I gotta live with the choices I made,_

_And I can't live with myself today._

_She's been listening to that song nonstop. It reminds her of Alister. You can tell how much she misses him. You think she might have either PTSD or survivor's guilt. Maybe both. Without her memories, everything's a shock to her, especially losing someone who was so important to her. You touch her on the shoulder, and she jumps, taking out her earbuds and forcing a smile. "Hey Ratchet. Sorry, didn't hear you come in."_

_You smile and sit next to her. "Hey Arianna." Things are quiet for a minute, both of you just sitting in what would've been silence except for her music. "Listen, Arianna," You start. "You've been sitting here for the last couple of days, since we got back. What's wrong?"_

_She sighs and says, "I just miss Alister. I mean, he was the closest thing to a father that I remember. And…he gave his life to save the universe, to save us. It's like I knew him all my life, and I just…I can't believe he's gone."_

_She learned everything from Alister. And not even just stuff like hoverbooting; he taught her about loyalty, determination, and…just who she is now. You break the silence that begun when she finished talking. "Arianna," You reach into your pocket and hand her the picture of Alister and Kaden that Alister left when he died. "You should have this."_

_She stares at it for a second and then at you. "But Ratchet-"_

_You hold up your hand to cut her off so you can finish. "Arianna, I never knew my dad. But Alister was like a father to you-you knew him. You should keep this."_

_She touches it, gently and just with her fingertips, before she looks up and locks eyes with you. You nod, and she smiles and takes it. She opens it, and props it up against the wall on her dresser. You turns back to you and brings you into a hug._

_You can tell from the shaking that she's crying._

You're still worried about Arianna's emotional health. She's doing better now, but you're still not sure if she's really okay. You're almost absolutely sure she had PTSD or even still has it. She had some of the symptoms. She avoided you if she could, she had nightmares and trouble sleeping, and flashbacks. She was always on edge. Then she started being active, and that's when she started to improve. But you still keep a watchful eye on her. Arianna's the type to keep quiet if something's wrong with her-you remember when she didn't tell you about her visions-she doesn't want you to worry. But…you wish…

**Your POV:**

Getting across the plains proved to be tougher than you thought. It's just like Susie said: the gravity machines are pulling the plains apart. And those Gravoids are disgusting; they're like huge purple and black ticks. They're almost as nasty as the Tetramites.

You spot Susie on her balloon, the one she used to escape in. Out of absolutely nowhere, a Gravoid falls from the sky and attacks her balloon, whisking her away. "Susie!" You, Clank, and Ratchet yell, giving chase to the Gravoid.

…

Finally (after getting past crumbling rocks and cliffs and that ugly-as-fuck Octomoth) you catch up to her. She's taken care of the Gravoid herself. She stomps on it (and it's defiantly in pain) until it flies away like a deflated balloon. "Did you see that?" She asks, a look of pride on her face. "That was so cool!"

You smile. "Yes, yes it was." She handled herself all her own better than you would've if you didn't have Ratchet and Clank.

One of the critters you've been collecting (the pink bird-like one with feathers) picks up Susie and lifts her into the air. "That was amazing! Thanks. Come on, this way Mr. Robot!" The bird flies away with her, and you turn to Clank.

You smile. "I think she likes you."

Clank only stared up at you with a surprised expression.

…

You rounded the corner, and you sensed something was wrong. Your fur stood on end, your body's way of telling you something was wrong. The five of you were alarmed when the ground began to shake violently; you first thought it was an earth quake (the gravity changes might've caused the plates in the earth to move against each other). You heard a small gasp and Susie grabbed Ratchet's arm. "Get down, Mister!" Nefarious, Clank, and Qwark hide together while Ratchet holds onto your hand and all of you hide in the bushes.

Looking up, you see the same machine that captured you and the Z'Grute back in Luminopolis. It's just as menacing as it was before. Qwark grabs Clank and holds him out of fear. What is that thing? What does it want?

…

Sitting around a fire, Nefarious leans against the rock wall while Qwark lies on the ground drawing in the dirt with his finger. You sit next to Ratchet, in between him and Susie who's sitting near Clank. The older Tharpod (what Susie is) explains what that thing is. He has the bird that rescued Susie sleeping on his back. "We call it Ephemeris-the creature collector. Oh, it's been around for over a hundred years, snatching the universe's most dangerous beasts and bringing them here to our planet." You and Ratchet exchange glances for a second before looking back to the Tharpod.

"Who is in control of the machine?" Clank asks.

"No one knows. But that tyrant you saw in our village was its emissary, Commander Spog. He has been protecting Ephemeris for years." He looks hopeful at you and Ratchet. "But now that _you're_ here…"

Ratchet stops him. "Whoa, look-I'm just tryin' to find my way home." You see the disappointed look on the Tharpod's face, and you feel an almost overwhelming sense of guilt.

"But…" Susie starts. "You're Ratchet. You saved the whole universe-you're not supposed-" She sneezes, and her helmet falls forward. It's defiantly too big for her. "Aw…I sneezed in my mask."

Ratchet sighs and gets up, adjusting her mask for her. "Listen, kid. I'd love to help you and your dad, but my pals and I-we're retired. As soon was we're off the planet, we'll notify the defense force." You smiled and nodded, but the older Tharpod takes the both of you aside.

"Susie is not my daughter." He explains, and you stare at the little girl. "I'm afraid her parents were lost during the Ephemeris raid on Totem Fi. Like many other children here, she is an orphan."

You know what that feels like. You look at Susie. "Ratchet, we can't just ignore these people. And…you and I know both know what being an orphan feels like." You've always been an orphan. Even if you did have a family, your biological parents are both dead.

Ratchet looks at you, and then stares at the ground. "Alright," He starts. "So where do we find this Commander Spog?" You smile, seeing the looks on the Tharpods' faces and feeling a sense of pride in Ratchet.

Now you know why you feel that way about him. Everything Ratchet does, he does for someone else.

You stand at the entrance to the forest; black and purple with an eerie glow that seems to say, "Go away. I totally hate you."

Qwark doesn't waste any time trying to get out of it. "Yeah, I'm not so big on the whole 'haunted forest thing'."

Ratchet shrugs. "That's cool. I'd just thought you'd like to raise your approval rating by saving a few thousand voters." You smirk and follow Ratchet as Qwark does the math on his fingers. "I guess parades and groupies just aren't everyone's thing."

"Wait a minute-both of those are my things! Wait up!"

You guess something must've freaked Nefarious out (more than a little) because behind you, Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark, you hear him say, "Wait for me!" with more than a little fear.

**I seriously don't like this chapter. At all. I hate it. Really. I do.**

**Anyway, I've got five other stories to update. I will (hopefully) see you all soon.**

**Bye for now!**

**~Mimi**


	5. Chapter V

**Here's the fifth chapter! Man, we got a ways to go, huh? I kinda feel like this'll be longer than Born This Way, but I can't be sure. Also, I plan on writing a prequel to Born This Way. It'll jump between Arianna's time in college and before she was born. The main character will be Alister.**

_/"You stand at the entrance to the forest; black and purple with an eerie glow that seems to say, "Go away. I totally hate you."_

_Qwark doesn't waste any time trying to get out of it. "Yeah, I'm not so big on the whole 'haunted forest thing'."_

_Ratchet shrugs. "That's cool. I'd just thought you'd like to raise your approval rating by saving a few thousand voters." You smirk and follow Ratchet as Qwark does the math on his fingers. "I guess parades and groupies just aren't everyone's thing."_

_"Wait a minute-both of those are my things! Wait up!"_

_You guess something must've freaked Nefarious out (more than a little) because behind you, Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark, you hear him say, "Wait for me!" with more than a little fear./_

**Your POV:**

You follow close behind, and as you make your way through the forest, you can't take your eyes off of the doctor. "Hey, can we just stop for a second?" Ratchet and Clank look at you, very surprised; you would never stop on a mission to save a planet. "Nefarious," He glowers at you, and you return the hateful stare. "You know who my father is, Nefarious. I wanna know."

You feel a sense of familiarity to this situation. Then you remember. The words you said were Ratchet's not even that long ago.

_You and Ratchet follow him, and catching up to him, Alister tosses a green light onto the ground as he examines the world. "General," Ratchet starts. "Will you just…stop for a second? I wanna know what happened." You reach for the chip in your pocket._

"_Questions, questions…you ask all these questions!" Alister snaps. You know you should back off. Half of your heart is saying to back off, and the other half is saying to interrogate him. You have to if you want to find out the truth. "Ask yourself this: how relevant is the past when it can be changed? Your father would've said 'not very'." _

"_That's him." Ratchet responded. "Not me. And you still haven't given me a straight answer. Now why aren't you with the Lombaxes?" The tension in the air is rising._

"_Because I failed them!" _

_His words and tone aren't the only thing that takes you by surprise. It's the look on his face that startles you the most. He looks guilty, and also…a bit tortured. "I failed them…" He mutters, sinking to the ground against the wall. He lowers his head in shame. "I made a mistake." There's nothing but silence for a few moments before Alister explains. "After the Great War, Polaris was a dangerous place. Even with the Cragmites gone, I knew steps needed to be taken to protect the galaxy. One day, we were approached by an inventor with incredible ideas; technology light years beyond what we were using. The inventor was someone…" He looks at you and then at Ratchet. "Someone your mother and your father warned me not to trust. Our kind had grown suspicious of him, but I was convinced this was the right thing to do-for the galaxy! I granted him full access to our technology, all of our secrets. Only when he was finished…"_

"_The destruction of the Lombaxes." You said it before you even thought it, and it came out before you could stop yourself. "That's what I keep seeing." The visions keep replaying themselves when you close your eyes._

"_What?" Ratchet asked, raising an eyebrow at you. "What are you talking about?"_

_You growl at yourself. Damn it. "Whenever I pass out, I see Lombaxes being slaughtered by giant robots. Tachyon's forces." You explain. _

_Alister nodded. "They took refuge in the court, but Ratchet, your father refused. He would never have left your mother, but when he made it back, she…she was already gone. I don't know how long he survived before Tachyon caught up with him, but I know I was responsible for his death."_

_You raise an eyebrow. "And my mother?" You ask._

_He looks…wounded. Even more so than before. "Your mother and father gave her life to save you. You were just a baby at the time…it must be your amnesia that's making you remember. But I…" He shivered. "I saw her die before my eyes. I did everything I could to save her but I…I couldn't. I wasn't good enough."_

_Realization dawns on you. You can't believe you didn't see it before. It was always right there in front of you, it was so obvious, and you should've seen it before. "My mother wasn't just a friend to you, was she?" He looks shocked at first, but then nods. "You loved her."_

"_With everything I had." He mutters. That's why he doesn't want to talk to you about your father. Your father was the man who your mother married. Your father was the man who your mother loved and cherished and had a child with. He didn't want to talk about him._

_You feel like an idiot._

_Alister stands up. "For my crimes, I was forbidden from joining the Lombaxes. And so, I live in exile. But I can make it right. We…we can fix it." He puts his hand on Ratchet's shoulder. "With the Clock under our control, it'll be like none of this ever happened." He turns around and raises his weapon. "Stay with me, and I promise, I'll get your family back." He crashes through the wall, and it explodes and crumbles. Rocks go flying everywhere, and suddenly, that chip in your pocket is the least of your concerns. _

_You want your questions answered. Now you wish you hadn't asked._

You shake the memory out of your head. That feeling of regret you had at that moment comes back. And that bit of self-hatred grows a little more.

Nefarious growls. "I thought Alister was your father?"

You remember the speech you gave before Nefarious flung you, Ratchet, and Clank into space. You nodded. "He was my father figure. I want to know who my biological father is."

He shakes his head. "Trust me, you don't wanna know."

"Trust you?" You snap. "You flung us into outer space on an asteroid, tried to have us killed multiple times, and of course, you tried to use the Great Clock to create a present where the heroes always lose!"

"And you ruined my plans, killed my girlfriend, and gave me this scar!" He yells back. That strikes your heart a little. You feel bad for what you did to the Valkyries, but you didn't have a choice.

Clank seems surprised. "Arianna, you gave him that scar?"

You turn to him and shake your head. "No, Ratchet did. I was just there when he threw the bomb."

"The bomb?" Clank looks at Ratchet.

"_You twit! You told me this would work!" Oh, if only he knew the destruction you and Ratchet have caused._

"_I-I don't know what's happening. We should've found it by now." He's typing away on what looks like a calculator, but you know it's not. "He must've erased his own memory."_

_You heard the Fungoids talking about Orvus having a meeting with Dr. Nefarious. They must've thought it was an actual philosophical discussion, and Orvus must've believed that too, otherwise he never would've come. Orvus would never leave the clock without good reason._

_Orvus doesn't look that good. He looks really weak; he can't even lift his head up and his arms are limp. "Time is a gift." He manages to get out. "And not to be tampered with." You and Ratchet quietly jump down from the ledge you're standing on. He's got a bomb, just in case._

"_This is your last chance, Orvus. How do I get into the chamber?" _

_Orvus tries to reason with him. "You are making a mistake! The clock is not a time machine."_

_Frustrated and irritated (not to mention, getting impatient), Nefarious points to one of his guards who shoots at the canister Orvus is trapped in. But Orvus doesn't falter; instead, he actually seems to get a bit of strength into him as he toughens his resolve. "There is only one who will enter my chamber, and he is safe, far from you." In a bright flash of light, Orvus is gone._

_Nefarious presses himself to the tank. "Where is he? Where did he go?" He turns to who you think is Pollyx._

"_I don't know, sir!" The poor creature stutters out. "I'm pulling up a residual image from his data banks. We can it before he…dissipated." You see a blue screen with data on it, and a big picture of a smiling…_

_Ratchet raises an eyebrow. "Clank?"_

_Nefarious is alerted to your presence, and he turns around. He doesn't look very happy to see you. "You." He growls, taking a step towards you. _

_Ratchet throws the bomb at him, and all you hear as you and Ratchet ran for your damn lives is a loud crack and an incessant "No" that's followed by a beyond-pissed off "Annihilate them, you fools!"_

You give a smirk. "And that's how it happened."

Nefarious grumbles to himself, but you didn't really understand it. You challenge him to say it again. He yells, "I never should've shot you down!"

Things go quiet for a minute, you're surprised at first, then you narrow your eyes and take a step forward. "I was right." You snap. "You did shoot me down." You growl. "Why?"

Nefarious sighs and explains. "I detected your ship on my radar, and performed a bioscan; you were a Lombax. It didn't show me your gender, and I thought that there was only Ratchet and Alister. So I targeted you, and shot you down."

You don't even know what to say. You've been living with the fact that Nefarious knows something about you-maybe even everything-and it's something you've learned to live with. It's always been sitting there in your head. Only know, you've got the chance to find out what it is so you can move on with your life, or at least try to. "So, everything that's happened to me has been your fault?" He doesn't say a word. "Nefarious!" You snap. "Who is he? Who is my father?"

"Can we talk about this later?" He asks.

You let out a shout of frustration and proceed forward ahead of them.

**Surprise update, chyeah. Now I have homework to go do. Bye bye.**

**See you soon! C:**

**~Mimi**


	6. Chapter VI

**Yay, new chapter. Has anyone been reading the rewritten version of Born This Way? And actually, I'm amazed about how many hits this story has gotten, really. I'm so sorry this update is so late; I've been so distracted by like 15 other stories, and almost none of them are actually up yet, and probably won't be for a while.**

**Your POV:**

You take out your iPod and start scrolling. You need to calm down, and music always soothes the savage beast. Because the last thing you want to do is turn Nefarious into scrap metal like you threatened to; if you do, you'll never find out who your father was. You take a deep breath, trying to keep your emotions in check-which is a lot harder than it seems.

**Ratchet's POV:**

Arianna's way up in front. She's not just mad. She is pissed. Off. She's almost radiating it. You…feel guilty. Looking at her and knowing how alone she must feel, you flashback to when you met her. All that time you spent with her. Remembering how every single second, she was right there with you. She'd never abandon you, but…it feels like you haven't been there for her as much as you could've been-or should be.

"Arianna," You call. When you don't get a response (and then hear the familiar sound of her music being loud), you catch up to her. She takes out her earbuds. You sigh. "Arianna…I…" You can't find the words, you know what you want to say, but you…can't say it. "I don't even know what to say, besides the fact that I'm sorry."

She shakes her head. "Don't be sorry, Ratchet."

"Arianna, if there's something wrong, I wish you'd tell me."

**Your POV:**

"Arianna, if there's something wrong, I wish you'd tell me."

Guilt trip. Major guilt trip.

"Arianna, don't you trust me?"

You bite your lip and don't respond. You…are a terrible person. You really are. "Ratchet, of course I trust you, but it's just…" You sigh. "Ratchet, you already have enough to think about it. I don't want you worrying about me too. That's why I kept my blackouts a secret." And in your defense, Ratchet did have a lot on his mind, between Clank, Alister, his parents, and of course the fate of the universe and of time itself.

"Arianna," He says seriously, stopping you and looking you straight in the eye. "You're my friend, Arianna. I'm _always_ gonna worry about you."

It's not just the words he says. It's the way he says he said them. He looks so…so serious. In his eyes, you see true devotion-a willingness to do anything for you. You see how much he cares about you. You remember why you fell in love with him in the first place. Everything he does, he does for someone else. And he's done so much for you. Without Ratchet…you'd go crazy. He's always been there for you, he's always been the one who keeps you on the ground.

When you look him in the eyes like that, all you can think about is how much you love him.

Before you can answer, Clank says, "There is the railway station."

"_You made it." _You hear Cronk's voice from Ratchet's nav-unit. _"Nice work. That railway platform should take you directly to Commander Spog."_

Ratchet smiles. "Good job, everyone."

"Yeah," You chuckle, bro-fisting him and all of a sudden, the tension between you two seems to vanish; it's like the previous conversation never happened.

**Ratchet's POV:**

_I like this girl so much,_

_She's always on my mind._

_We have an awesome time,_

_We never crossed the line._

_She don't wanna mess up the friendship,_

"_Friendzies"._

_I'm in a frenzy 'cause my bedroom's empty._

_And she's tempted,_

_But riddled with doubt._

_Friend Zone is like the Mafia,_

_You'll never get out!_

The way Arianna smiles…it always makes you feel better…just knowing she's happy. But she's not. You know she's not; even if she doesn't tell you herself, you know her enough to know when she's upset about something. You'd wish Nefarious would just come and out say who her father was; even if it upsets her at first, at least Arianna will get closure and be able to _move on_.

But even more than that, you wanna tell Arianna how you really feel about her. She's always so wild, independent, fierce…loyal…always keeping secrets, never really saying what's on her mind and what's really bothering her…she drives you crazy, and then she _drives you_ _**crazy**_.

_She doesn't know the half;_

_In my wallet I keep her photograph._

_I've made my decision,_

_For you baby girl,_

_I'd change religions._

'_Cause in your eyes,_

_I see heaven._

_Girl, I think about you 24/7._

_Before the story ends,_

_I wanna know:_

_Can we be more than friends?_

You know, it completely figures that you can take on giant robots, killer monsters, save the universe three or four times over, rescue a bunch of heroes from DreadZone, take down the guy who's behind the disappearance of your race, fight pirates, and save time itself but you can't even tell Arianna that you like her.

You're an idiot.

**Your POV:**

As the railway proceeds onwards, you're being torn apart from the inside out. But…you feel some strange vibration on the platform. It's very mild, but it's still there... "Ratchet, Clank, do you feel that?" You ask.

Ratchet nodded. "Yeah…what is that?"

"I do not know, but it is getting closer." Clank says.

He's right. The vibration is getting stronger; soon enough, the platform starts to violently shake. Some giant worm suddenly bursts out of the wall; it is massive, purple with a ton of little yellow eyes, and it's defiantly pissed off. It lets out a loud roar, the shaking nearly throwing you off the platform before Ratchet latches onto you and brings you back. "Thanks." You say quickly. He only nods.

The Wigwump tears through the wall and through the metal; the platform falls to the ground right after the Wigwump. The five of you fall for about a quarter of a mile before you activate your jetpacks.

"_We've got a visual on the thermal scan. Just keep heading down." _

It's…a long way down. It really is. It's deep, dark, and incessant. Almost creepy. But you know there are worse things to fear than the dark. But the tunnel isn't safe; it's just as hazardous as the place in Volgram Pass, with all of those out-of-date robots with harsh voices. There's fire and machinery that needs to be avoided.

Yay.

And to make this even better, the Wigwump bursts through the wall, and it is not happy. At all.

"_Zeph, what do we do? I don't want to have to tell Miss Tawlyn we left her friends get digested by a carnivorous Wigwump."_

"_Oh! I have an idea!" _

"I'm open to suggestions." You say.

Zephyr continues with his idea. _"Next time the Wigwump's distracted, trying kickin' into it using your jetpacks."_

Hm. It's an interesting idea, and right now, you don't exactly have a lot of options.

"Is that really a good idea?" Nefarious asks.

"You got a better idea?" You snap at him.

Every time the Wigwump appears, Ratchet leads the five of you, and you slam into the Wigwump's head, repeatedly. Normally, you don't like hurting animals-but this is different. Just like with the Valkyries, it's either that thing or you. As a group, you throw yourselves against the creature.

…

After finally getting down to the tunnel (which, of course, involved falling through the floor just when your jetpacks quit on you and narrowly avoiding injuring yourself), you help Ratchet off of the ground. "You okay?" You ask. He nods.

"Yeah."

Looking around, the situation does not look good. You're backed up against a stone wall, and there's a pool of lava a few feet in front of the ground you're standing on. It's just the five of you, versus a giant, fire-breathing worm. By the five of you, you mean, a tiny robot, Ratchet, you, a useless dope, and Nefarious.

Clank seems to have been reading your thoughts. "Oh dear. This does not look good."

Ratchet stares down the lava, you keeping your hand on his back, ready to pull him back in case he gets too close. "We must be in the Wigwump's burrow. Maybe we can reason with it, you know? Bond with it, or something."

"Ratchet," You start. Normally, you'd agree to everything he has to say because-well, because he's smart and frankly, you just trust him. "I'm sorry, but I do not believe that thing can be reasoned with. We're gonna have to fight it." Ratchet nodded and turned forward as the Wigwump erupted from the lava, letting out a tremendous roar.

FIRE!

With their combustors (and you getting dangerously close to the edge with your arc lasher), you inflict as much damage to the Wigwump as possible. The Wigwump retaliates by…throwing flames and rocks at a section of the ground. Lovely. Once enough damage has been done, the Wigwump sinks into the ground and comes out the wall, still spitting fire. The Wigwump crawls over the lava into the opposite rock wall. The worm aims at the center section, splitting the five of apart.

Clank pulls on your arm and points to the launching platform. You look and Ratchet and nod, both of you sending yourselves flying into the air and slamming into the Wigwump once more with your jetpacks. You land on the ground as it falls forward.

"It's stunned!" Ratchet yelled. "Shoot it!"

A little bit of rapid fire and your lashings, and the Wigwump is down. You give a sigh of relief as it sinks back into the lava. "Is it over?" Qwark asked.

"I think so." You say, looking down at the lava.

Clank smiles. "Excellent work. The Wigwump has been defeated."

"Yeah," You laugh, high fiving Ratchet.

"Let's get out of here." There's a little exit near your right made of earth with vegetation growing. "I've had enough nature for ten super-evil lifetimes." Nefarious muttered under his breath.

It's a few minutes of walking, and Qwark-who seriously needs to be retrained for a very, very long time-is out of breath and trudging behind. You didn't know people actually trudged. "That's it, you all saw it," He yells, panting, and falling onto his back. "President Qwark slayed the mighty beast."

"Someone wanna get Fatty McMouth-Breather an oxygen mask?" Nefarious snapped. "I'm not gonna carry him if he passes out."

"Neither am I." You mutter. You and Ratchet stare up at the tress. The forest doesn't look too friendly. It's eerie, and even though you know they're critters, the pairs of glowing yellow eyes peering at you from the branches unsettle you.

"Ratchet," Clank calls. "Arianna," He says when a few seconds pass and he doesn't get an answer.

"Yeah, pal?" Ratchet asked, turning around.

"I believe I may have found something." He holds up a little egg-looking thing; it's mostly yellow, but there are red glowing circles on it. It looks new. What it's doing all the way out here?

"Whatacha got?" Ratchet asked.

The egg flies out of his hand, and cracks open to reveal a screen. It comes in static-y at first, but then the screen clears to reveal a forest that's being…burned…

"_Holo-Diary, entry 005. They came during the night, hundreds of them, and they attacked without warning. I stood atop Zuuzuu fields and watched in horror as Commander Spog and his armies lay waste to Uzo City. Through ribbons of fire, I saw my creation-bloated and terrible, a deadly moon hanging silently amongst the destruction-Ephemeris."_

The screen switches over to some man, with a sinister grin surrounded by fire, and there's some weak, battered, and starved-looking creature in his arms.

"_What plans does my enemy have for this arc? I can't explain it, but I feel as if some dark fate haunts us all from the future and Ephemeris is the key. These…things will not stop with Magnus. We are simply the first steps. And I, Dr. Frumpus Croid, cannot shake the feeling that it was my work that made it possible."_

The screen fades from the image of someone looking onto the burning city with the figure of Commander Spog hovering it to static. What was that? It reminds of the destruction of the Lombaxes that's been burned inside your memory.

Clank's the first to speak, and he's as logical as always. "According to this Holo-Journal, whoever is controlling Ephemeris has a plan for these monsters. Ratchet, Arianna, I have a bad feeling about this. We must find Commander Spog at once."

Ratchet looks at the ground for a minute, and then turns back to the railway station. "Let's go." He says quickly, and the rest of you board the platform and hear the sound of it starting up.

You need to think for a second. You know you're missing something. There are pieces to this puzzle you don't have yet. But just like before, the only way to find them is to go forward.

Go forward…?

Hm. You want to move on. You really do. But there are still things getting in your way. Not even just Alister's death or the mystery of your father. You don't have your memories. You don't know who you really are or where you come from.

What about all of the people you knew before? You had friends, didn't you? And what if you had a family, or school, or just…anything? You had a life before.

Even if (and when) Nefarious tells you who your father is…you're still be bounded to the past.

**YES. FINALLY. God, this update took me FOREVER. Jesus! Well, at least it's like seven pages long. You know, I had all of spring break to update. And this is it. I suck. Too bad I go back to school tomorrow. But my spring break was pretty awesome. I got two new games-Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time, and Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction. I just need three more games (Ratchet: Deadlocked, Secret Agent Clank, and Quest for Booty) and I'll have the whole series! And I need three more Jak and Daxter games and I'll have the whole series. And my mom preordered Lollipop Chainsaw for me! Yay! So yeah. It was a pretty good day. And I'm gonna get a PS3 for my room.**

**Well, goodbye for now!**

**~Mimi**


	7. Chapter VII

**Okay, so super late update. I know. Don't worry, I will finish this story since I'm now on summer break…and have been for two weeks now. Now that I have the fun out of my system, I'm ready to work! And there's gonna be a sequel to Born To Be Brave, taking place during the sequel to All 4 One, the new Ratchet and Clank game coming out titled Full Frontal Assault. The sequel to BTBB is On The Right Track. So, now that I'm done with this, let's go, you know, get this chapter going! And we're at the N.E.S.T!**

/_The screen fades from the image of someone looking onto the burning city with the figure of Commander Spog hovering it to static. What was that? It reminds of the destruction of the Lombaxes that's been burned inside your memory._

_Clank's the first to speak, and he's as logical as always. "According to this Holo-Journal, whoever is controlling Ephemeris has a plan for these monsters. Ratchet, Arianna, I have a bad feeling about this. We must find Commander Spog at once."_

_Ratchet looks at the ground for a minute, and then turns back to the railway station. "Let's go." He says quickly, and the rest of you board the platform and hear the sound of it starting up._

_You need to think for a second. You know you're missing something. There are pieces to this puzzle you don't have yet. But just like before, the only way to find them is to go forward._

_Go forward…?_

_Hm. You want to move on. You really do. But there are still things getting in your way. Not even just Alister's death or the mystery of your father. You don't have your memories. You don't know who you really are or where you come from._

_What about all of the people you knew before? You had friends, didn't you? And what if you had a family, or school, or just…anything? You had a life before._

_Even if (and when) Nefarious tells you who your father is…you're still be bounded to the past._/

**Your POV:**

Wow. You feel better, fighting the Wigwump like that. It's been a while since you had a big epic battle like that…actually, it's only been a couple of hours since the Z'Grute thing. Now that wasn't fun. Luminopolis must still be taking estimates of damage, and taking the number of casualties. You tried your best; you're more used to taking down the robotic enemies, not the actually organic ones. Taking down the VX-99 back in Axiom City was easier than taking down the Z'Grute. It was a lot less of a change, at least.

The railway takes you to a place where it's warm and sunny, and it has a lot of plants and dirt. It's pleasant weather, and different from the Deadgrove. You see an Apogee space pod come crashing down like a meteor and hit the ground, and then expand. You don't really need any new weapons; you've always been able to make do with what you have. And now you can actually get a little distance between you and the enemy.

You actually have one earbud in, and the other out so you can actually hear what the others are saying. Well, the others being Ratchet and Clank. Nefarious isn't the only one who's caused you grief. You can hear Cronk's voice. "_Here we are. The Northern Extraterrestrial Sorting Terminal, or N.E.S.T._"

"_This must be where Commander Spog tags and redistributes creatures around Magnus." _Hearing Zephyr's observation, you look around. It really is pretty interesting. Clank could probably recognize most of the species, and you some. You did spend time looking at different species those two years you were bored out of your fucking mind.

You wait while the others finish browsing, sitting on a log and going through your pictures. You've only got pictures of your friends; most of them are of you and Ratchet making silly faces, you've got a couple of you and Talwyn, and just Talwyn, some of Ratchet and Clank, and a few of just Clank, some of Cronk and Zephyr, and a whole group photo. You deleted all of the old photos that were on it; you feel bad. You really do. But you don't even know those people, so what's the point of keeping a reminder around, when there's no one you can be reminded of? You…do think about them. Do they miss you? Do they even wonder if you're alright?

_You never care to hear the other side,_

_So why would you care to keep this thing alive?_

_You made into the memories of all your pain,_

_But I will not be drawn into the past again._

_Because all of this is all that I can take,_

_And you could never understand the demons that I face,_

_So go ahead and bat your eyes and lie right to the world,_

_For everything you are,_

_You're just a little girl._

_So go ahead and cry, _

_Go ahead and believe that you were right,_

_To keep away the dark,_

_To help you sleep tonight._

_Who is wrong?_

_What is right?_

"Ari," Ratchet calls. You bring your head back up. "We're done."

You smile, putting your iPod back into your pocket, and following them. You need to use those little slingshot things, but there's only four. Ratchet gestures to you, smiles, as you walk over to him, and he brings his arm around your waist and you're shot up into the air. You can feel yourself go weak at the knees when he just smiles at you like that-he really trusts and cares about you. But when you feel his warm around your waist, you feel so happy and safe and your heart skips a beat and starts to race. You wanna tell him how you feel-more than anything else in the world, you wanna tell him. You can do it; it's easy. Just say it.

_Ratchet, I…_

…

…

Okay, so it's not so easy. Not at all. You're scared you'll lose him if he doesn't feel the same. You don't want to ruin the only relationship you have with him. You're usually such a brave person, but when it comes to that threat, that risk…you don't wanna take it. And you don't want to do something to hurt him. Ratchet's been through way more emotional rollercoasters than you have, and you don't wanna push him into the cart of another one.

You push those thoughts out of your head as the five of you head up the cliff; you get another sense of déjà vu. You smile. "Hey, this reminds me of the last time all five of us were together. Oh yeah, that just before Nefarious shot us into space on an asteroid." You say sarcastically.

"Arianna," Clank says, in that "remember-to-keep-calm" tone.

"Yeah, I know." You say. He is right. No matter how much it pains you, you do need to cooperate with him. And God, does it pain you.

You press onward, and then you need to use the globlobber. It weighs down bluish stone, which then turns purple, and the bridge hits the ground, kicking up dust.

"_Looks like the main road is blocked off. Spog's minions must be attacking that Tharpod settlement._"

"_There has to be another way into the N.E.S.T. We'll perform a satellite sweep of the sector. In the meantime, stay out of trouble._"

You hold back the sarcastic remark about how impossible that is.

You head pass the Tharpods, who say that the minions have overrun the settlement. You come to the wall. You need to use the globlobbers again to get past it, and then use them again to release a boulder. Then, you have to release a second one, and then run like hell when it comes down the bridge. It's like you're in a temple, and you set off a booby trap.

Then you find this weird purple-blue goo on the ground. It's jiggling. "What is that?" You ask, with a confused expression. You wanna get a big stick and poke it.

Zephyr explains it. "_Oh, that's not good. That's weevoid toxin. Those nasty critters fling powerful binding agents onto their prey in order to trap them._" You see a little critter, the one with the big nose, get stuck in the goo, and it really grosses you out.

You need to step around it to use the globlobber to get to the switch to activate the catapult, and then you need to get Qwark out of the goo. You jump up onto the platform, and the rock falls into the net, and sends you flying.

A weevoid pops out of its shell, and damn, these things are ugly. It snarls at you, all purple and brown with nasty sharp teeth and crab claws. It only has one eye, purple with a black dot in the center.

"_Yep. Just like we suspected-weevoids. Watch out for their tails-weevoids fight dirty._"

The weevoid is a little tougher to fight than you'd thought it be. You stun it for a few seconds, and then it crawls back into its shell, impervious to any attack. When you get too close, it got you with its tale, and it sent you flying onto your back. You growl and get back to your feet, but that's just how the fight goes, and then you start to get frustrated-and you're not really all that pleasant when you're frustrated.

"Oh, ew, gross," You turn and you see Ratchet trapped in the toxin, and then the weevoid knocks him back.

"Ratchet!" You say, smacking the weevoid with your wrench. It takes a couple more hits from Clank and Qwark until the damn thing finally dies.

You tap the toxin with your wrench, being very careful not to hurt him, and he stumbles a bit, so you keep him steady. "You okay?" You ask.

He smiles. "Yeah, thanks."

You bro-fist, and then, continue on.

**Okay, now before we get any further, I gotta know. I've got plenty of ideas how Ratchet and Arianna should become a couple, but I don't know which one to pick. Why don't you guys come up with some suggestions, and I'll give it some thought, and…then we see what happens, k?**

**Also, it just occurred to me that I forgot to put in the recap in the last chapter. Oh well, I suck.**

**See you soon!**

**~Mimi**


	8. Chapter VIII

**I'm here again! So let's have fun with this, shall we? Okay, so in THIS chapter we learn who Arianna's real father was! Let's do it!**

/_You head pass the Tharpods, who say that the minions have overrun the settlement. You come to the wall. You need to use the globlobbers again to get past it, and then use them again to release a boulder. Then, you have to release a second one, and then run like hell when it comes down the bridge. It's like you're in a temple, and you set off a booby trap._

_Then you find this weird purple-blue goo on the ground. It's jiggling. "What is that?" You ask, with a confused expression. You wanna get a big stick and poke it._

_Zephyr explains it. "Oh, that's not good. That's weevoid toxin. Those nasty critters fling powerful binding agents onto their prey in order to trap them." You see a little critter, the one with the big nose, get stuck in the goo, and it really grosses you out._

_You need to step around it to use the globlobber to get to the switch to activate the catapult, and then you need to get Qwark out of the goo. You jump up onto the platform, and the rock falls into the net, and sends you flying._

_A weevoid pops out of its shell, and damn, these things are ugly. It snarls at you, all purple and brown with nasty sharp teeth and crab claws. It only has one eye, purple with a black dot in the center._

_"Yep. Just like we suspected-weevoids. Watch out for their tails-weevoids fight dirty."_

_The weevoid is a little tougher to fight than you'd thought it be. You stun it for a few seconds, and then it crawls back into its shell, impervious to any attack. When you get too close, it got you with its tale, and it sent you flying onto your back. You growl and get back to your feet, but that's just how the fight goes, and then you start to get frustrated-and you're not really all that pleasant when you're frustrated._

_"Oh, ew, gross," You turn and you see Ratchet trapped in the toxin, and then the weevoid knocks him back._

_"Ratchet!" You say, smacking the weevoid with your wrench. It takes a couple more hits from Clank and Qwark until the damn thing finally dies._

_You tap the toxin with your wrench, being very careful not to hurt him, and he stumbles a bit, so you keep him steady. "You okay?" You ask._

_He smiles. "Yeah, thanks."_

_You bro-fist, and then, continue on._/

**Your POV:**

You continue on, fiddling with your iPod, but your eyes stay on Nefarious. The next time you're not almost getting killed, you'll press for the identity of your father…and threatening to throw him off the nearest cliff should get him to take you seriously. You've beaten him before, you can do it again; maybe not without Ratchet, but a few more scars on his metal head should get him to talk. After you got past all of the Weevoids, and ended up getting stuck in their toxin a couple of times, to match your clumsy tendencies, and getting through the hookshots, you come to a panel, and then you're launched to a grind rail.

There are robots performing maintenance, so there are like little rings of fire to jump over, but you just laugh it off. You grind rail in the city all of the time, and you've dealt with worse hazards, like bombs, and blades. It takes more than a shock to your system to stop you. You switch over to the next rail, giving a cheerful shout. "I love this part." You smile.

"This is how you met Alister, right?" Nefarious calls from behind.

You smile and nod. "Oh, it's such a fond memory…he tried to kill us." You can laugh about it now, but it sure wasn't funny at the time. Alister did seem to love explosives. It feels like yesterday, even though it was over two years ago. Zeph's voice interrupts your conversation.

"_Stay sharp, rookies. We just got visual confirmation of Commander Spog._"

You see him over your heads, and he's massive. He looks a lot like the bouncer minions, but he's got blue in his design as well.

"Zeph, Cronk, how do we take him down? What does his design say?" You ask.

"_Strange…_" Cronk says. "_His design doesn't appear to be on file at the Hall of Knowledge. That's a violation of galactic statute thirty-nine-delta._"

You sigh. "Everything always needs to be so difficult."

…

You smash through the glass window, onto another grind rail, with Commander Spog growing more and more frustrated as you advance down the line. "There you are! I'll show you how we deal with interlopers around here! Let's see how you handle this!" He tosses a few what-you-think-are bombs onto the rail, and while they don't explode, they do start flashing, and if your previous adventures taught you anything, it's that if something starts flashing and it wasn't a moment ago, you should probably get away from it. It's not that hard, really. He puts spaces between the rows.

You follow close behind Ratchet, an eager grin on your face, ready to take this guy down, and take him down hard. "You've wasted enough of my time!" He throws little spirals with blades on them towards you, and you just scoff.

"Pfft, blades."

Ratchet grins. "I know. They never learn."

To rub salt in the wounds, the Steward says, "Commander, the interlopers are still alive."

"I know they're still alive," Spog snaps. "I'm rectifying the situation right now!"

"Really? Because you said that a few minutes ago. Were you being humorous?"

"…Can we talk about this later?" Spog says, obviously embarrassed by being outsmarted by a Steward.

You head off the rail and land on the platform, and stay out of the way as the others take down the robots with their Plasma Ball launchers. You head Spog's voice over the destruction of his troops. "You cannot prevent the master's escape! His great crusade will recommence! The Cragmites shouldn't destroy him, and neither can you!"

"Cragmites?" You shout. Wait, what the hell do the Cragmites have to do with this? The Cragmites have been gone for _decades_, what the hell is going on?

Heading up the platform, you find two open sockets and two voltergeists, Ratchet taking one and Clank getting the other. The elevator rises, and Spog grabs onto the edge, "Special delivery!" He chuckles. "Let me introduce you to a few of Magnus' newest residents."

A few of his minions drop Weevoids onto the platform, and you growl, adding weevoids to the list of creatures you hate the most, the list now being compiled of tetramites, weevoids, and War Groks. You give a flick of the wrist, and stun one with your Arc Lasher, and then weevoid toxin and blasts from Ratchet's Combuster just go flying back and forth, with you giving the weevoids a nasty dose of kinetic energy. Finally, they zap and fade from existence, which makes you feel the slightest bit of accomplishment, because it is irritating to kill those things!

Then one of those Brutes appears, and you scowl. They're easier to kill, and you've faced bigger, meaner, and uglier, but you've got bigger things to be doing than taking the Brute down. You stand back, letting Qwark get it with his Warmonger. "How are you still alive?" Spog shouts, his frustration getting the better of him.

The elevator comes up to the next one, taking you up to Spog himself. "I will not permit a bunch of meddlesome interlopers to wreak any more havoc on my factory! As the highest ranking warbot on sight, I hereby declare you enemies of the master! Prepare to do battle!"

"Shit," You growl.

"I've yet to lose a battle," Spog says, emitting a laser from his hand. "Prepare for the end!" Your Arc Lasher won't be of much use to you, so hit him with your wrench when he tries to squash you like a bug under an anvil. "I cannot allow you to leave this place."

Qwark lays into it with his warmonger, Ratchet and Clank with their Combusters, and Nefarious with a Plasma Bomb launcher. You do your best, but you're just ineffective in battles like these. It sort of makes you feel useless. And then, Zephyr saves the day, and Spog leads a part of his own downfall.

"_Those explosives look powerful enough to breach his armor. Blast 'em back using your Vac-U!_" You will definitely being Zeph a new rotator cuff for this. You throw the explosives back at him like you used to do with the Agorians in the Battleplex while the others use their weapons.

"Let's try a new approach." Spog says, sending more of those spirals at you. Being a Lombax, you're more than capable of dodging them.

You hear the Steward's voice coming from somewhere. "I am detecting failure in three out of ten primary systems. Recommend retreat immediately."

"Retreat?" Spog snaps, appalled by the suggestion. "Never! I have them right where I want them!" They say pride is a deadly sin.

You man the explosives, making sure they don't hit anybody, and then you return them to their sender.

"I now detect failure in seven out of ten primary systems."

"I require no primary systems to perform my duties, Steward!" Spog yells, as he wavers to the side, and the five of you press on to take him down.

You hear a familiar voice behind you. "Mr. Zurkon will destroy Commander Spog." Okay, honestly, that little robot thing, whatever the devil he is, sort of irritated you-and it really needs to learn how to shut up-but you do appreciate the backup…sort of.

"I will not lose a battle this close to retirement!" Even though he's taking tons of damage, some from his own bombs, you give him credit-he's a fighter.

With a final shout of pain, he fumbles forward, not able to keep himself steady. You rush to stand in front of the commander as he spits out some phrase backwards. Wow, defeated and down for the count, and still trying to talk.

"Your voice modulator is damaged, Commander." Clank explains. "But if you tell us how to defeat Empheris, I believe I know someone who can fix you."

"Well I don't like to brag," Qwark starts, but you interrupt him.

"Yes you do." You say, clearly remembering your last adventure with Qwark which you had so hoped would be the last.

Qwark continues on, as if you never said anything. "But I did modify my crotchetizer with a special vibrating function I call 'the happy platypus'." You raise an eyebrow, not really understanding just what he's talking about, while Nefarious and Ratchet put their hands to their chins and Clank just stares at him.

"Um…beg your pardon Qwark," Clank says awkwardly. "But I was referring to him." He says, and points to…_Nefarious_?

"_Me_?" Nefarious says, just as bewildered and shocked as you. "Are you _insane_?"

You know, you have to agree with him. You are not the only person he's wronged. He stole Clank from Ratchet, tricked the Zoni, and spent a year trying to hack into Clank's brain. Not to mention, because of Nefarious, Clank's father Orvus (who Nefarious also tricked and tortured) is gone, and of course, Nefarious tried to use the Great Clock to make a universe where the heroes always lose.

"If I may," Clank starts. "Being evil hasn't worked out well for you these last few years. Perhaps using your intelligence for good will yield…better results?" Ha, he's right. All of the wrong he's caused, all of it has just backfired on him. Like the Z'Grute, just hours ago.

After a few moments of debating what he said, Nefarious complies. "Alright, fine," He stomps. He stands in front of the commander, pointing at each of you. "But speak of this to no one."

You only roll your eyes, with Ratchet patting your back. Nefarious clears his throat and waves his hands like a composer, and you hear various drilling and hammering sounds as you see the doctor fix Spog. Your eyes grow wider and wider, and Spog floats back up just above the ground once Nefarious gives him a final kick to the head.

Ratchet steps forward. "Alright, Spog. We did our part. Now how do we defeat Empheris?"

"Only the architect knows." Spog says. Architect? As in a person who designs buildings? "He lives beyond the lighthouse, in the forest of the blue rocks."

He flies away, as Nefarious walks off, and Qwark calls out, "You did the right thing, doctor!"

"Get bent!" Nefarious snaps, waving him off.

You head to the bridge that rolls out, and you follow next to Ratchet and Clank and the five of you take the elevator down. For the first time in a couple of hours you get some peace and quiet and nothing's trying to kill you. But…you have to admit it. Something trying to kill you is…really just what makes your day normal-and you really wouldn't have it any other way.

You eye Nefarious. This…could be your last chance to find out who your father is. You might not get another one, and this is the first time in forever you'd actually had an opportunity to talk to him. You should ask. You take a deep breath, mentally preparing yourself for whatever happens.

_Right. Whatever happens, happens._

You proceed to the door that needs to be activated via two mortar tosses.

"Nefarious," You start, stopping in your tracks. "Hold on."

He turns around, but he refuses to look at you. "What is it?" He grumbles. Ratchet, Clank, and Qwark stop, looking at you and then at Nefarious.

"Nefarious, I want to know who my father was." You say, seriously.

"What about Alister?" Oh, there he goes again, playing that card.

You roll your eyes. "My biological father, Nefarious. I don't have my memories of my life before, and you know what? I'm probably never going to get them back. I'll never have closure on that. But I want closure on the life I have now. I want to know my father's name so I can put it behind me. I'm gonna keep asking, and I'm not gonna stop until you answer me."

Things get quiet for a few minutes, and you get frustrated again. "Nefarious," You snap. "We may not survive this, I need to know-"

_Somewhere they're speaking,_

_It's already coming in,_

_Oh, and it's rising at the back of your mind._

_You never could get it unless you were fed it._

_Now you're here, and you don't know why._

_But under skinned knees and the skid marks,_

_Past the places where you used to learn._

_You howl and listen and wait for the echoes of angels who won't return._

"You idiot!" Nefarious snaps. "Are you really that damn stupid? You couldn't see it, when it was right in front of your eyes the entire time? I've practically already told you-you would've figured it out if you could put two and two together!"

"What?" You gasp, not really paying too much attention to the insults to your intelligence. "What are you saying?"

_He's everything you want,_

_He's everything you need,_

_He's everything inside of you that you wish you could be._

_He says all the right things_

_At exactly the right time,_

_But he means nothing to you_

_And you don't know why._

"You twit," He snaps. "Alister risked the universe, all of existence, for you! He did it to get your family back, don't you remember?"

_You're waiting for someone to put you together,_

_You're waiting for someone to push you away._

_There's always another wound to discover,_

_There's always something more you'd wish he'd say._

You raise an eyebrow, taking a step closer, but you fear his answer. There's a voice shouting at you in the back of your mind, but you can't hear it. "_What are you saying_?" You demand. "Why would Alister do all of that for me, other than the fact that I'm my mother's daughter?"

"_Because, Alister was your father!"_

It takes a few moments to sink in, but when it does, it shakes you like an earthquake. Ratchet, Qwark, and Clank exchange glances, then stare at Nefarious, then at you. You can't believe you didn't see it. It should've been obvious, and maybe you did realize it, but you just never acknowledged it. Now you're forced to face it. You have to face the fact that all that time, you were standing right there next to your father, and you never knew it. He taught you almost everything you know (you're still wearing his hoverboots). You watched him die. You were less than ten feet away when he did.

Now everything makes sense. Before he flung you into space on an asteroid, he said you were just like your father. You have your father eyes. When Nefarious said Alister hadn't told you who your real father was-it was always about Alister. A product of shame-Alister was ashamed of _himself_-now everything's just clicked.

How could you have been so _blind_?

"Wait, wait," You shake your hands, wondering if you should even believe him. "How do you even know that he was my father?"

He grumbles again. "Remember when Vorselon yanked out your fur?"

You growl and rub the spot at the back of your head. "Yeah, I remember." It took your fur _forever_ to grow back after that.

_"Azimuth! And I see you've brought a friend. Welcome back." Who is Azimuth? You should know who he is, you get that much. From the information you've gathered, he's a Lombax living in exile. But why does Nefarious hate him so much? "I guess your old self told you to return. Computer, bring me my best x-suit. I'll handle this personally."_

_Ratchet doesn't waste any time getting in contact with help. "Aphelion, they've blocked our escape route. Meet us in the lower-deck landing bay." Aphelion complies, but she comes in all scratchy, so you can't exactly understand what she says._

_Getting past another robot, you board the elevator. As soon as the doors open again, you come face to face once again with Vorselon. You stand ready. "Pitiful creatures! You've meddled in Dr. Nefarious' plans for the last time! Prepare to be killed by…wait for it…Lord Vorselon!" His words are followed by an evil laugh._

_Okay, is this guy trying to be cool or something? Because he's not. He's just annoying. You just want to smack him around a bit._

_He's actually more of a threat in battle, and with those mine-things he keeps dropping on the floor, you're very grateful for your reflexes and jumping skills. However, during the fight, he pays a lot of attention to Ratchet. He calls him Azimuth, and mocks his skills. So this Azimuth must be a good fighter, if "Azimuth" is taking it easy on Vorselon._

_You jump onto his back from behind and begin whacking at him; only he shoots forward and disappears. You growl, looking around, and you just barely dodge his shot._

_Finally, he goes down, his head separating from his body. Before he glides away, he…_

_"OW!"_

_That asshole just ripped out a piece of your fur! It wasn't a lot, but it still hurt like a bitch!_

"Well, after he came back…" Nefarious starts to explain.

**Nefarious' POV:**

"_Pollyx believes the entire procedure will require approximately 183 paradoxes…84 if the Blaarg participate." Lawrence begins from his hologram. "Sir, might I suggest we allow the Terachnoids to examine the chamber…before testing the machine?"_

"_What's the matter, Lawrence?" You ask, getting all in his face. "Chicken?" You make several clucking, chicken noises, when Vorselon appears behind you, shouts your name, and scares you, sending you into the air and right through Lawrence's holographic arms._

_You stare Lawrence down, hands on your hips in your usual frustrated pose as Lawrence says, "Whoopsies, sir. Butterfingers."_

"_I've just received word that the Lombaxes have destroyed the VX-99. Our sentries are searching for their vessel's signature as we speak." _

"_Unacceptable!" You snap, slamming your fists onto your desk. "I practically handed those Squishes to you on a silver platter-how could you be so utterly incompetent!" You throw your replica of your home planet across the room, which Vorselon narrowly avoids by teleporting behind Lawrence, who mutters "I'll leave you two alone" and then disappears, leaving Vorselon shaking and his teeth chattering with fear. _

"_If Ratchet, the female, or the elder find the clock, our plans will be ruined!" You shout. "Your body will remain crushed and abandoned on Zaurik, is that what you want?" Vorselon, with his arms behind his back, shakes his head. "I'm bringing in specialists!"_

"_Before you do, doctor," Vorselon starts. "I have some rather…interesting news you could use against the elder."_

_You raise an eyebrow. "What is it?" _

_Vorselon smirks. "We received the results from the hair sample I took from the female. You said you wanted more information about her."_

"_And?"_

"_We ran a comparison against the DNA from Ratchet and the elder, and we found a match."_

"_She's related to Ratchet?"_

"_No. She is the elder's daughter."_

**Clank's POV:**

You head on, and tilt your head toward the female Lombax. "Arianna, are you alright?" She looks at you, her head down so you can see the yellow of her eyes clearly, and while she looks exhausted and tired and completely emotionally drained, she forces a nod of her head and says,

"Yeah, I'm okay Clank, thanks."

She really does have her father's eyes. You should've realized she was the General's daughter, because she's the only being you know with yellow surrounding reddish-brown irises where the white should be, but then again, all Lombaxes do look alike. She's got the same features; long ears, large hands, and two toes with claws.

**Your POV:**

"All that time, I had my father by my side, and I never knew?" You're still in shock. You don't even know what to say. Your head is starting to pound-oh no, not here, not now! You give it a few minutes, and you don't faint. You're okay. You give a sigh of relief. "So that's it then. I really am an orphan." You sigh. "But there's no man I'd rather have for a father than him." You feel a strange feeling in your chest. It's not happiness…it's pride. You smile. "My father gave his life to save the universe. And I couldn't be more proud." You take out your picture of Alister and Kaden and the one of your mother, and you finally get a sense of peace.

Ratchet grins, patting you on the back. "You ready to go take down Empheris?"

You smile. "Let's do it."

**So, is the end of Born To Be Brave?**

**Of course not! So, let's move on to the next chapter. I wanna finish this before the summer ends, and then, I wanna start on the prequel so I can put up On The Right Track this holiday season! Jesus, this was a long chapter, and I hope you all enjoyed it! **

**Okay, since I was listening to a certain song when I was writing this, there might be just a slight little hint of one-sided Nefarious/You. **

**WHY? Because I won't hold back my ideas, that's why.**

**Sweet mother of Jesus, this was a long chapter. It's ten pages, and almost four-thousand words! And a lot's happened in this chapter. But this isn't the end of this story-not by a long shot. Originally, I was gonna wait for Alister to be revealed to be Arianna's father, but I just couldn't wait any longer! So I put it in this chapter. **

**So, seriously, how many of you are surprised? Nefarious is right; it should've been obvious. At least, I think it was. Maybe that's because I wrote it.**

**See you very soon (hopefully)!**

**~Mimi**


	9. Chapter IX

**Bam, new chapter of Born To Be Brave! Remember, the sequel to this story is On The Right Track! **

_/"Pollyx believes the entire procedure will require approximately 183 paradoxes…84 if the Blaarg participate." Lawrence begins from his hologram. "Sir, might I suggest we allow the Terachnoids to examine the chamber…before testing the machine?"_

_"What's the matter, Lawrence?" You ask, getting all in his face. "Chicken?" You make several clucking, chicken noises, when Vorselon appears behind you, shouts your name, and scares you, sending you into the air and right through Lawrence's holographic arms._

_You stare Lawrence down, hands on your hips in your usual frustrated pose as Lawrence says, "Whoopsies, sir. Butterfingers."_

_"I've just received word that the Lombaxes have destroyed the VX-99. Our sentries are searching for their vessel's signature as we speak."_

_"Unacceptable!" You snap, slamming your fists onto your desk. "I practically handed those Squishes to you on a silver platter-how could you be so utterly incompetent!" You throw your replica of your home planet across the room, which Vorselon narrowly avoids by teleporting behind Lawrence, who mutters "I'll leave you two alone" and then disappears, leaving Vorselon shaking and his teeth chattering with fear._

_"If Ratchet, the female, or the elder find the clock, our plans will be ruined!" You shout. "Your body will remain crushed and abandoned on Zaurik, is that what you want?" Vorselon, with his arms behind his back, shakes his head. "I'm bringing in specialists!"_

_"Before you do, doctor," Vorselon starts. "I have some rather…interesting news you could use against the elder."_

_You raise an eyebrow. "What is it?"_

_Vorselon smirks. "We received the results from the hair sample I took from the female. You said you wanted more information about her."_

_"And?"_

_"We ran a comparison against the DNA from Ratchet and the elder, and we found a match."_

_"She's related to Ratchet?"_

_"No. She is the elder's daughter."_

_Clank's POV:_

_You head on, and tilt your head toward the female Lombax. "Arianna, are you alright?" She looks at you, her head down so you can see the yellow of her eyes clearly, and while she looks exhausted and tired and completely emotionally drained, she forces a nod of her head and says,_

_"Yeah, I'm okay Clank, thanks."_

_She really does have her father's eyes. You should've realized she was the General's daughter, because she's the only being you know with yellow surrounding reddish-brown irises where the white should be, but then again, all Lombaxes do look alike. She's got the same features; long ears, large hands, and two toes with claws._

_Your POV:_

_"All that time, I had my father by my side, and I never knew?" You're still in shock. You don't even know what to say. Your head is starting to pound-oh no, not here, not now! You give it a few minutes, and you don't faint. You're okay. You give a sigh of relief. "So that's it then. I really am an orphan." You sigh. "But there's no man I'd rather have for a father than him." You feel a strange feeling in your chest. It's not happiness…it's pride. You smile. "My father gave his life to save the universe. And I couldn't be more proud." You take out your picture of Alister and Kaden and the one of your mother, and you finally get a sense of peace._

_Ratchet grins, patting you on the back. "You ready to go take down Empheris?"_

_You smile. "Let's do it."/_

**Your POV:**

Even after a few minutes…it's still pretty mind blowing. Alister was your father! It's…it's awesome! He knew, and he didn't tell you, but…it's okay. Because you know he had his reasons. You smile, and fiddle with your iPod, just mindlessly scrolling through songs. You're just…really happy. You finally pick a song, and it's totally your favorite.

_No matter gay, straight, or bi,_

_Lesbian, transgendered life,_

_I'm on the right track,_

_Baby, I was born to survive!_

_No black, white, or beige,_

_Choila, or orient-made,_

_I'm on the right track!_

_Baby, I was born to be brave!_

The railway pulls up to a dock, and this place looks like the swamp on that backwater planet-well, it was a backwater planet until you went back in time and changed everything. There's a bunch of broken docks and chucks of wood everywhere. You hear Cronk and Zephyr's voices. "_Good news, rookies! Thanks to you, Cronk and I might've discovered a clue! Commander Spog said something about a forest of blue rocks-he may have been talking about Terawatt Forest_!"

"_There's a research facility over there run by a 'Doctor Frumpus Croid'. He may be the architect you're looking for_!"

"_Head into town and see if you can find a railway station to Terawatt. If Croid designed Empheris, he's your best bet for shutting it down_."

"Thanks guys." You say. You head onto the dock, standing next to Ratchet, and you wonder what's going to happen once all of this is over. You'll probably just go back to living life, day to day…and maybe helping to fend off an attack every once in a while.

The five of you hop onto and off a tortemoth, and then a really nasty-looking creature pops out of the ground. You can tell from his long jaws, purple and teal colors and the fin on its back that it's a flabberfish. You strike down a few and throw them back into the water, and even Qwark and Nefarious slay a few. Clank uses his Clank-Fu, and Ratchet uses his own wrench.

You weren't paying enough attention when you took a step back, and end up tripping on a pile of rope and end up falling into the water. You kick your way back to the surface and cough up the nasty water out of your lungs. You shake your head, and your fur stands on end a bit. "Eh, it's not so bad." You smile. It's a little cold, but it's nice once you get used to it. Ratchet and Clank are staring at you like you've grown a second head. You tilt your head to the left. "What are you staring at?"

"Arianna…you're swimming." Ratchet points out. You look down and you realize he's right. You're kicking your legs lightly, keeping you at the surface of the water.

"Hey, look at that, I am."

"So she can swim, big deal." Qwark waves with a roll of his eyes-which makes you, roll your eyes in return. "Why are you guys staring at her like that?"

Ratchet pulls you onto the dock and you shake the rest of the water from your fur. "Because neither of us taught Arianna how to swim."

That's right! Nobody did teach you. So how did you-

_You don't know where this place is. It's a beach-and then there's you, with that holographic-disguise on. You're in a swimsuit and…you're with these people. There's a girl, and a man and a woman. They're the race that the little chip in your neck makes you look like. You're at a beach, and the girl is resting on a towel, reading a book. The man and the woman are in the water with you, laughing, and you're laughing with them. _

There's a stab of pain in your forehead and you stumble. You shake your head, and fortunately, you don't faint. It was just a memory. "It was just a memory." You mutter. Maybe you fainted because the memories of the fall of the Lombaxes were so far back-maybe your brain needed a rest.

"You…remember something?" Ratchet asks.

"Barely." You mutter. "I was with these people at a beach. A man, a woman, and some other girl. I don't remember their names. But we were having fun."

"Your adoptive parents?" Clank suggests.

"Maybe." You still wear that chip in your neck. That way, you always have a disguise on hand. And it's certainly come in handy in the past.

"You okay?" Ratchet asks.

You nod, and you try to pull up more memories. But all you get is a headache. But this is a start. Just a start. And it's a good sign. Your memories are starting to come back. Slowly, and it'll most likely take forever to have all of them, but it's a good sign. Maybe, when this is all over, you can do research on the race you're from. You know Qwark's not a…whatever they were, because his race has two large fingers and a thumb on their hands, and the race you're looking for has four little fingers on each hand.

**Ratchet's POV:**

So…her memories must be starting to come back. And…if she gets all of them back, then…what if she wants to leave? What if she decides to go back to her home planet-well, not her home planet, but the planet she raised on? You…might never see her again. You feel a pang of hurt in your heart. You'll never see her again. You don't want it to end like that. You don't want anything to end. But…you won't get in her way. If that's really what she wants, then…you won't stop her. You'll tell her how you feel, and then maybe she'll stay, but you won't stop her if she doesn't feel the same.

**Yeah. An interesting chapter, don't you think? Sorry this took so long to update. I'll certainly have it finished at some point, and in a few months, the sequel will be up…once I get Full Frontal Assault.**

**See you soon!**

**~Mimi**


	10. Chapter X

**Here's a new chapter of Born To Be Brave! Yes, this is going to get a lot more fun from here on out! And I think this story will be a bit shorter than Born This Way. Don't know how much. But I believe we're about half-way through now. Possibly a little more. But this will certainly be done before Christmas. And thank God too.**

_/"…Neither of us taught Arianna how to swim."_

_That's right! Nobody did teach you. So how did you-_

_You don't know where this place is. It's a beach-and then there's you, with that holographic-disguise on. You're in a swimsuit and…you're with these people. There's a girl, and a man and a woman. They're the race that the little chip in your neck makes you look like. You're at a beach, and the girl is resting on a towel, reading a book. The man and the woman are in the water with you, laughing, and you're laughing with them._

_There's a stab of pain in your forehead and you stumble. You shake your head, and fortunately, you don't faint. It was just a memory. "It was just a memory." You mutter. Maybe you fainted because the memories of the fall of the Lombaxes were so far back-maybe your brain needed a rest._

_"You…remember something?" Ratchet asks._

_"Barely." You mutter. "I was with these people at a beach. A man, a woman, and some other girl. I don't remember their names. But we were having fun."_

_"Your adoptive parents?" Clank suggests._

_"Maybe." You still wear that chip in your neck. That way, you always have a disguise on hand. And it's certainly come in handy in the past._

_"You okay?" Ratchet asks._

_You nod, and you try to pull up more memories. But all you get is a headache. But this is a start. Just a start. And it's a good sign. Your memories are starting to come back. Slowly, and it'll most likely take forever to have all of them, but it's a good sign. Maybe, when this is all over, you can do research on the race you're from. You know Qwark's not a…whatever they were, because his race has two large fingers and a thumb on their hands, and the race you're looking for has four little fingers on each hand._

_**Ratchet's POV:**_

_So…her memories must be starting to come back. And…if she gets all of them back, then…what if she wants to leave? What if she decides to go back to her home planet-well, not her home planet, but the planet she raised on? You…might never see her again. You feel a pang of hurt in your heart. You'll never see her again. You don't want it to end like that. You don't want anything to end. But…you won't get in her way. If that's really what she wants, then…you won't stop her. You'll tell her how you feel, and then maybe she'll stay, but you won't stop her if she doesn't feel the same./_

**Your POV:**

"Oh, that reminds me." You take the chip in your hand. If you don't take it out often enough, it just digs deeper into the skin. The first time you pulled it out hurt like hell-and it also bled a lot.

You can't believe it. You've gotten a bit of your memory back. It's a bit of a nasty shock, and it was very small, but…it's a start. It's very much a start. You're happy about it. Really. But this is the first time this has really happened-you mean, a bit of your life back from after Tachyon's attack. And…really, the only thing that's on your mind right now is the family you must've had. You remember all those pictures you deleted from your iPod-they were your family members. Man, you wish you had them right now. Maybe they would trigger more memories-goddamn it, you just had to delete them, didn't you? Didn't you!? You're an idiot!

Okay, bagging on yourself is seriously not gonna help. And besides, right now, you do have bigger things to think about than yourself. You turn and start fiddling with your iPod. And…you come across that guy with pink hair-at least, you think it's a guy. Sounds like one.

You come to a little hookshot thing, after taking down a couple of slorgs. You look up and then you hear Clank yell "Watch out" while Ratchet says "Arianna!"

And then everything goes dark and then you do realize there's a flabberfish on your head! You let out a muffled shriek, and then sink your claws into it and pull it from your head. "Ewwwwww," You squeal. "That's disgusting! Oh, God, it's worse than that Weevoid toxin!" Your fur and hair are all sticky now! And you have a lot of hair-it's not even just long (your hair goes all down your back), but it's also really thick.

"You okay?" Ratchet asks.

You nod. "Yeah-grossed out, but okay." You shiver.

Ratchet laughs. "You gotta be more careful-and…yeah, watch your back."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Well, this is just another thing to add to your log of "situations that proof you're a clumsy dumb bitch."

And what happens next does not improve your case.

You do the hookshot, right behind Nefarious, and you don't land on your feet like everyone else does-no, you land on your face-your jaw, to be exact. Because Nefarious let go too quickly, so while he made it, you just barely hit the dock. "You did that on purpose." You accuse, standing up.

"Did not." The evil robot replies.

"Do to!"

"Did not!"

"DID TO!"

"Arianna, please," Clank's voice breaks up the argument. "I know that this is vexing for you, but please, try and remain calm."

You take a deep breath and sigh. "Okay."

…

"Be careful rookies; there's never a good reason to abandon a town."

Zephyr's right. This place looks like it hasn't been lived in forever; overgrown algae, and the wildlife is running wild. Little critters are everywhere! And they're cute, but also pretty slimy. As you found out first hand. You need to get a new pair of gloves. And you're seriously gonna need to shower when you get home. This has been quite the day. And it's not even over.

Oi.

_Hollywood knows you'll never make it,_

_You're rich and you're skinny,_

_But you look like shit!_

_You came so close,_

_You could almost taste it,_

_But God hates your outfit!_

Wow, your music is mean!

…

"Whoa, what the heck is that?"

You, Ratchet, and the others are staring at…well, it looks like…like an upside-down tornado…on water. And there's some device thing in the air. The clouds are…almost black, they're so gray-until they form near the device-it looks like lightning. Wow.

"_Looks like some weather transmogrification apparatus."_ _**What?**_ _"It could be what ran the Tharpods out of town! We'll do some diggin', you just keep movin'!"_ Zephyr makes no sense sometimes.

You shrug and hop onto the platform with the others, and you stare at the machine in the air. Wow. Just when you think you've seen it all. Something like this happens. Then again…you've seen weirder. A lot weirder. So you guess it's okay.

The platform brings you to a new set of docks, and you need to critterstrike your way through them. Yeah, the slorgs aren't really immune to normal fire, but…well, the critterstrike just sends them flying off the dock-only, you're extra careful not to get electrocuted. Turns out, the critterstrike is actually more affective against slorgs than the warmonger is, and you wanna save the warmonger for the bigger guys anyway…well, the ammo, at least.

However, you stop in your tracks when something smashes the wood in front of you.

**THERE.**

**Finally! I updated!**

**Yeah, I got a PM about Born To Be Brave, and then I was like, "…Yeah, it's time to update." HOPEFULLY, I will update again soon! Don't worry! And yeah, the sequel will be pretty short, time FFA is pretty short itself.**

**See you (HOPEFULLY) soon!**

**~Mimi**


	11. Chapter XI

**So, here's another chapter of Born To Be Brave! Okay, I really need to finish this. I've just been so damn busy with school lately-originally, I wanted to have this done before the year was over, and…we're nearly done with March. So here's the update.**

_/"Whoa, what the heck is that?"_

_You, Ratchet, and the others are staring at…well, it looks like…like an upside-down tornado…on water. And there's some device thing in the air. The clouds are…almost black, they're so gray-until they form near the device-it looks like lightning. Wow._

_"Looks like some weather transmogrification apparatus." What? "It could be what ran the Tharpods out of town! We'll do some diggin', you just keep movin'!" Zephyr makes no sense sometimes._

_You shrug and hop onto the platform with the others, and you stare at the machine in the air. Wow. Just when you think you've seen it all. Something like this happens. Then again…you've seen weirder. A lot weirder. So you guess it's okay._

_The platform brings you to a new set of docks, and you need to critterstrike your way through them. Yeah, the slorgs aren't really immune to normal fire, but…well, the critterstrike just sends them flying off the dock-only, you're extra careful not to get electrocuted. Turns out, the critterstrike is actually more affective against slorgs than the warmonger is, and you wanna save the warmonger for the bigger guys anyway…well, the ammo, at least._

_However, you stop in your tracks when something smashes the wood in front of you./_

**Your POV:**

"Are you SERIOUS?" You shout, after just seeing the message. "We go through all that and the guy ain't even here?" So, you took out the W.A.S.P, killed a King Sepiad (and that guy really will need a lot of therapy), and made it all the way up here-through the fields, man-eating flowers, and having to deal with comet pieces-and the Doctor is gone. Your voice echoes, and then you realize how loud you're being.

"Arianna," Clank begins.

"Right, right, sorry." You say.

But it's true though! You went through all of that, and for nothing! Except…yeah, he's on the Phonica Moon. So you guess it's okay. At least you know where he is-and that means you're close to wrapping this mission up. A good thing too-your iPod's battery is gonna die. You've only got half a battery left. You're actually pretty protective of that thing. It is the only thing that's stayed with you since you met Ratchet-well, except for Ratchet himself. Even Clank hasn't been around as long as Ratchet has. No, first you met Ratchet and then Qwark. But…who did you meet first? Nefarious or Clank? It's…coming in all fuzzy…but you're sure it was Clank.

Oh well, you're probably just tired. You're sure it's nothing.

"Oh, man," The five of you stare up at the machine. It's quite the ship. Just about the size of Lord Vorselon's. It's black and green, but it's…curved funny. The model seems…really familiar. "Look at the size of this thing!" Oh that's right. Ratchet does love ships. And speaking of ships, you really need to get off this planet and find out what happened to Aphelion. The Z'Grute did throw her a pretty good distance.

…

"I'm so tired." You sigh as you step onto the moon. It's so…familiar. Well, when you were after the Zoni, you did spend a lot of time on moons. And they were pretty cool! Especially after you got your armor and could walk around freely. And the view is always incredible. Only…there seems to be a fair amount of oxygen on this moon-probably from the research lab Dr. Croid has up here. Which is a relief, because Ratchet left his armor at home, and so did Qwark. So yeah. You're okay. But perhaps, you should still be careful.

You hear a little noise, and then you turn to see that's a critter! Aw! They're so cute! They're like the best part of this adventure! "I got 'em!" You say, running over to the little creature. It runs away, and then you trip on a rock (like you do basically every day) and then fall face-first into a rock. You roll over and stand up, going back after it.

**Ratchet's POV:**

Oh God, she doesn't notice the ground rumbling? The rock…the rocks are falling! And she's right under them!

"_Arianna_!"

**Your POV:**

"_Arianna_!"

The shout of your name makes you turn your head up, now with the creature in your arms, and then you look up to see rocks about to crush you. You gasp, and then…something crashes into you, and you've fallen onto your side. Then you hear the sound of a collapsing cave, and then dirt is thrown into the air and it's all dark.

"Arianna?"

"Ratchet?" You cough, after breathing in too much dust. God, it's so dark…you can only see by the light of your nav-beacons. You sit up, and you pull him to his feet. "Thanks." You smile. "For saving my life." You giggle. "Again."

He grins. "Anytime."

"Ratchet! Arianna!" That's Clank's voice. Jesus, you can just barely hear him through the rocks. "Are you both alright?"

Ratchet taps into his ear. "Yeah, we're okay."

You look around, but the critter is gone. "Clank, the little guy, is he okay?"

"Yes, Arianna, do not worry; he's fine."

"Don't worry!" Oh, that's Qwark. "I'll have you both out of there in a jiffy!"

"No Qwark." You say firmly. "There's no time. Find Doctor Croid. Come back for us later. We'll be fine. But we need to find the Doctor."

"Arianna's right, guys." Ratchet agrees. "Go find him. We'll be okay."

"Alright." Clank says, but from his tone, he doesn't seem to really be okay with this. You can't blame him. After what happened with Tachyon, the Great Clock, and all of that business, he probably doesn't like having Ratchet out of his direct line of sight. Man, you're glad Clank's with Nefarious and Qwark. Otherwise, they'd destroy each other. "We'll be back as soon as we can." Ratchet says "Got it" at the same time you say "Alright."

You sit back down in the dirt with him. "Well, we're gonna be stuck here for…probably a while." He nods, adjusting his nav-beacon to increase the brightness. You turn on your iPod to add to the light. "Hey Ratchet,"

"Hm?" He looks up at you.

You smile. "Really. Thanks for saving me. I feel kinda bad, 'cause you're always saving me, and I'm never saving you."

He shakes his head. "Ari, really, don't feel bad. What was I supposed to do? Let you get crushed by rocks? You'd do the same for me, right?"

You nod. "Right." A few minutes pass, and it's really quiet. You yawn again. "I'm sleepy." You haven't felt this tired since the first day you started living with Ratchet and Clank. Probably because you haven't been this active since. Too much exercise all at once.

Ratchet lightly touches your shoulder. "Just rest. Take a quick nap. They're not gonna be back anytime soon anyway."

You nod and lay down on your side. The ground's really not so bad. The dirt is really soft. Hell, you're already covered in dirt, so what does it matter? But you're gonna need a really long shower when you get home. You start breathing, slowly and deeply. The exercise-swinging a wrench, using the Arc Lasher, and all that walking-has worn you out. And soon enough, you're asleep.

**Ratchet's POV:**

Is she sleeping? Is she really, really, asleep? Because Arianna sleeps like the dead when she's asleep. You poke her side. Nothing. "Arianna?" You whisper. No response. She's really out of it. You lay down next to her, staring at her face. Man, she's a stunner isn't she? You gentle touch her hair. It feels better when it's not all dirty like that, but you know it's still soft. And her eyes-her eyes are always so warm. Even if they are her father's. She really is nothing like Alister, is she? You wished you knew her mother. See who she's more like. She never ceases to amaze you.

…

You've never felt this way about a girl. Sure, they have been others-Angela, Sasha, Tawlyn-but…Arianna's different. Everything she does is a surprise, but at the same time, it's just like her. She's so happy and friendly, but when she loves, she loves with all of her heart and soul. She's so loyal and brave, even if she is reckless, simple-minded, and…well…a bit crazy.

_If our love was a fairytale,_

_I would charge in and rescue you._

_On a yacht baby,_

_We would sail_

_To an island where we'd say, "I do."_

_And if we had babies,_

_They would look like you._

_It'd be so beautiful if that came true._

_You don't even know how very special you are._

You stare her. She…well, she is asleep, right? And if you just kiss her, just once-on the forehead-well, she'd never know, right? You…kind of want to wait until she has her memories back to…tell her how you feel. You don't want to scare her or anything. And…she might not even feel the same. And if she does-you don't know how well she'll be able to understand those feelings. You move your face a little closer to hers…and you gently, very, very, very gently-so you don't wake her up-you kiss her forehead. Fireworks go off in the back of your head, and now, you've never been more sure that Arianna is the one. She's your one, and there's never gonna be anyone else. You can't keep the smile off your face-it actually hurts. You sit up and just watch her sleep for a few more minutes before she begins to stir and wakes up.

**Your POV:**

You're…literally half-asleep. You're not awake, but you're not totally asleep either. You feel something lightly touch your head, but you're too tired to care right now. A few more minutes pass, before you roll over and then feel a rock dig into your side. You wince and sit up and Ratchet is sitting about a foot away from you. "How long was I asleep?" You ask.

"Not too long."

You raise an eyebrow. "What are you smiling about?" You ask. You point accusingly at him. "Did you put a bug in my hair!?"

He laughs and shakes his head. "Nope."

"Then why are you smiling like that?!" He did something! You don't know what it is, but he did something to you! "Tell me!"

"Go back to sleep." You pout and stick your tongue out at him. "C'mon, you can use me as a pillow." …Well, you can't really pass up that offer, can you? You agree, and you lay your head against his shoulder and the two of you are up against the wall. You take a deep breath. Well, no shame in going back to sleep, right? It looks like the guys aren't going to be back for a while…you just hope they haven't killed each other yet.

…Well, at least Clank is okay.

…Hopefully.

You did go through total hell to get him back-back to Ratchet. Ratchet spent most of his life alone, and then Clank was gone, for two years-and you were only there for a brief time. Ratchet got two Lombaxes-and then had one taken away. After losing his best friend. You can't imagine what that's like. Of course, you don't have any memories-well, except for that one blurry one-but…you feel awful about it. But he's okay now. He's stable, and he's got two people that care about him. Maybe…maybe you should just tell him you love him…as a sister. So you can get it off your chest, but without telling him that you love as…well…yeah, that.

_I love you, Ratchet._

"What?"

Your eyes immediately snap open. **OH FUCK**. Did you just say that _out-loud_!? Shit, shit, shit!

You roll off of him and stare at him, and he stares back at you-his bright emerald eyes wide. "Really?"

You keep your mouth covered with your hand, not trusting yourself to speak. You can feel tears and a slight hot pain building up in your eyes. Oh God, oh God, oh God, what have you _done_? "Ratchet…Ratchet…I…I'm so sorry. I-I don't know where that came from." You lie. You feel so stupid. You didn't want to do it like that! You can't believe you actually said that out-loud! Jesus, why can't you just suddenly have a heart attack and die, 'cause it certainly feels like you're about to have one. Why can't lightning just strike you dead where you stand?!

**Ratchet's POV:**

Really? She…she didn't mean it? She says it, but she doesn't mean? You…you fight back that bit of anger in your chest-she's Arianna. You can't be angry with her-but…it hurts. You've felt heartache before-but this…this is like…your heart suddenly turning to glass and then Arianna stepped on it. Repeatedly. The anger and the hurt both surge in your chest. You feel your shoulders tense up and your eyes narrow. "It's fine." You deadpan, ending the conversation. "Let's just wait until they come and get us." You sit away from her, and bring your knees to your chest and wrap your arms around them, resting your head. You can't believe it. She tells you she loves you, and then she takes it back.

**Your POV:**

Wow. You're an awful person. You're a stupid person. You're an awfully stupid person. What have you even done? He looks so angry. And you don't blame him. He's only been close to Clank in his entire life-and there's you, and you told him you loved him and you meant it but you still took it back! Because you're a damn coward!

"Ratchet, I…" You stop short when the ground shakes, and then, there's a burst through the northwest point of the wall, and rocks and rubble fly everywhere, along with clumps of dust, and you see Nefarious, Qwark, and Clank standing there. "Guys!" You smile. "You haven't killed each other yet."

"Not yet." Nefarious growls, eying Qwark.

"Hm, yes," Clank begins. "We tried locating the doctor, but we felt it best that we find the weakest point of the cave you were trapped in, and break through it. I did not wish to risk you both running out of oxygen."

**Ratchet's POV:**

Right now, you'd gladly welcome that.

**Your POV:**

"Well, let's get moving!" You force a grin, and you think Clank can tell you're faking it, and that Nefarious can feel the tension in the air.

Clank tilts his head. "Is everything alright?"

"Peachy." Ratchet mutters, pushing past you and out of the cave.

**YES, FINALLY. OH THANK GOD! THIS CHAPTER IS FINALLY DONE! **

**Wow, ya'll must hate me, huh? Don't worry, everything is going to be fine in the end!**

**See you hopefully soon!**

**~Mimi Sweet**


	12. Chapter XII

**Hey, just realized, this story is-yeah, actually almost over. I can't wait! Yeah, just so you know, the sequel will take place AFTER the crossover story, "For the First Time", and you will seriously out of the loop in the sequel to Born To Be Brave if you don't read For the First Time. Really. Have fun.**

_/__**Your POV:**_

_Wow. You're an awful person. You're a stupid person. You're an awfully stupid person. What have you even done? He looks so angry. And you don't blame him. He's only been close to Clank in his entire life-and there's you, and you told him you loved him and you meant it but you still took it back! Because you're a damn coward!_

_"Ratchet, I…" You stop short when the ground shakes, and then, there's a burst through the northwest point of the wall, and rocks and rubble fly everywhere, along with clumps of dust, and you see Nefarious, Qwark, and Clank standing there. "Guys!" You smile. "You haven't killed each other yet."_

_"Not yet." Nefarious growls, eying Qwark._

_"Hm, yes," Clank begins. "We tried locating the doctor, but we felt it best that we find the weakest point of the cave you were trapped in, and break through it. I did not wish to risk you both running out of oxygen."_

_**Ratchet's POV:**_

_Right now, you'd gladly welcome that._

_**Your POV:**_

_"Well, let's get moving!" You force a grin, and you think Clank can tell you're faking it, and that Nefarious can feel the tension in the air._

_Clank tilts his head. "Is everything alright?"_

_"Peachy." Ratchet mutters, pushing past you and out of the cave./_

**Your POV:**

You can't believe you really just did that. You hurt him-the worst way a woman could ever hurt a man! Ratchet has been up in front, and you've been way in the back instead of your usual spot at his side. You've been staring at your daddy's pocket watch, thinking of how ashamed he must be if he can see you right now-as a total coward. Ugh, maybe some music will take your mind off of this. A little melodic sound always makes you feel better. You take your iPod out of your pocket and plug in your earbuds.

_Last night,_

_I was pouring out my heart to you._

_And with one kiss,_

_I was a runaway train,_

_Flying off the track to you._

"_I love you" came flooding out,_

_Couldn't make it stop,_

_Couldn't shut my mouth._

_I unapologize._

_Won't take back the way I feel about you._

_I can't unsay what you heard,_

'_Cause you heard me right._

_And I won't try to fight them back or hide my feelings for you,_

_I unapologize._

_You know,_

_People say a lot of things that they don't really mean._

_And last night,_

_I told a little white lie,_

_Hoping you'd forget the scene._

_Where it felt like a movie under that porch light,_

_Couldn't help myself when you held me tight._

_Said what I meant,_

_Then lied and said I was sorry._

OKAY, THAT IS NOT HELPING.

You scroll, and you bring up the song "DJ Got Us Falling in Love Again" and...that's the song you and Ratchet listened to all the time. Back when it was just you and him. You remember it all so clearly. You keep going, and see "Army of Love", and…that's another song you and Ratchet listened to all the time. You keep going through the list, and you realize that you and Ratchet have listened to every song on that thing at least once-most of them plenty of times.

Why? Why did you lie? Why didn't you just tell him how you feel? You were all alone, away from the others, and he looked…so hopeful. And then you just…shot an arrow at that hope. You're so lost in your thoughts that it takes Clank tugging at your pants for you to notice that he's trying to talk to you.

"Arianna," Clank begins. "It has come to my attention that something has happened between you and Ratchet." You know there's no point in more lying, so you just meekly nod your head, fiddling with your iPod and staring at your feet, too ashamed of yourself to make eye contact with Ratchet's best friend in the entire galaxy. "Would you mind telling me what it is that is bothering you? So that I may be of assistance?"

You sigh, and lower your voice so the others don't hear this-you don't know which one would be worse-Nefarious, Qwark, or Ratchet himself. "I…I told Ratchet I loved him," You start and it takes Clank by surprise. He just nods, and you continue. "But I didn't mean to say it out loud. It was an accident. I just got so scared-I lied and apologized and took it back."

"So you do love him?" Clank asks.

"Yes." You say, feeling 300% with that heaviness in your chest. "I just…I'm so scared. What if we don't work out? Or if I do something else to hurt him?" You have enough problems seeing your reflection in water. If you did anything else-ever-to him-you could never forgive yourself. That's why you can understand him not forgiving you. "And what if he doesn't even really feel the same? What if I'm just tricking myself into thinking that he does?"

"Arianna," Clank begins, in his wisdom-knowing tone. "I do not have much experience in this situation-but I do understand why you would be frightened by this. Your experience comes from slaying monsters and machines, not dealing with relationships." He's so smart. And understanding. "But I do believe that Ratchet cares about you-a great deal, in fact." Well, you already knew that. Of course he cares; he probably wouldn't have put up with you for this long if he didn't. "And I have to say-this is not your usual risk-taking self. I believe that you should simply tell him the truth-and see what he says."

"Like…" You pause, and think for a second. "Get him away from the others, and…just tell him how I really feel?"

Clank nods. "Yes. That sounds like an excellent idea. The tension between the two of you is thick, and I believe it is getting to all of us."

You take a deep breath. "Okay." You say. "I'll do it."

…

You're working up the courage to tell Ratchet that you meant every word that you said, and you follow close behind him as you head up to the laboratory. The room is brightly lit with computer monitors, writing on the screens, machines, and images of critters and a planet. "Planet…Toranux?" Ratchet questions, as Clank picks up a framed picture of Croid and his old pal, Nevo.

You all look up towards the hall when you hear a voice echoing from it. "Tricilloscope shows an increase in thermal-kinetic output around the anterior cingulate cortex, confirming my hypothesis that the answer is in the rocks. They can't survive outside…so they need vessels!"

_This doesn't look too promising_, you can't help but think to yourself as the five of you walk up to him from behind. "Doctor…Croid?" Ratchet asks.

The old man jumps and then looks ecstatic. "By stars! Lombaxes!" He grabs Ratchet by the face and pulls his eyelid open (ew), and then grabs your ear with a robot claw…thing. "What remarkable specimens! And with such shiny coats!"

"I'm really uncomfortable." You mutter to Ratchet. Despite the tension between you two, he nods in agreement, and it seems like things are the way they were five hours ago. _Five hours ago_. Such little time-can make such a huge difference.

"Oh, you three brought her and her mate to the right place!"

"I'm not his mate!"

"I'm not her mate!" You and Ratchet yell out at the same time.

Wow, that really did not help.

Croid hands Qwark a little card, and Qwark reads it off as, "Doctor Frumpus Croid." He says two words you do not know how to spell, or what they mean, and… "Lombax…whisperer?" Qwark's face and tone, questioning, uncertain, makes you realize that Qwark thinks Croid's a nutcase too.

"Doctor Croid," Ratchet starts. "We don't need translators. Someone is using your work," Croid has his fingers knotted together except for his two forefingers which are going upwards. He gives little nods and "uh huh" and "I see." "To bring monsters to Magnus," Ratchet continues to explain. "And we need your help to stop him."

"I see. He's saying he's hungry!"

"Oh, for the love of-" Ratchet is cut-off by Croid force-feeding him treats. And then he gives you the same treatment. Oi, they're too salty!

Qwark takes the doctor aside. "Doctor Croid, I completely respect the fact that you're...insane…" Qwark pauses for a second and the two of you grimace when the doctor takes a few treats for himself. "But I'm trying to boost my approval ratings, so why don't we dial down the crazy, and tell us how to stop Nevo?"

Then there's this really creepy silence, and good Lord, that creepy-ass fucking doctor isn't even fucking blinking. Qwark looks like he's about to crack. Like an egg, and for once, you don't blame-God, this is horrifying. And also disturbing.

"I very much want to leave." You whisper to Ratchet.

Nefarious finally breaks the silence (thank God), and you realize that he snuck away over to a computer. "I think I have something over here!" There's an image of Ephemeris, and Nefarious' fingers are flying over the keyboard. "Ephemeris uses a versatron energy dock to charge its power cells. It emits a high-frequency sonar ping to prevent ships from flying into it."

"Right!" Ratchet smiles. "And that frequency would do…what now?"

"It would allow us to triangulate the location of the charging dock."

"Hm." You mutter. "You know, you'd think Nevo would make it so Ephemeris wouldn't need a charging dock." Where does this look familiar? It feels like…you've had this conversation before…but where? It's there-you're…just not getting it.

Oh no.

You feel that pain in your head again-no, damn it, not now! Oh man, it really hurts this time-it feels like there's a jackhammer on the inside of your skull! Your vision blurs-you see colors, dots, streaks, and then…just…black. You fall to the ground with a hard thud.

**Ratchet's POV:**

"Arianna!" You pluck her from the ground, and hold her tight in your arms. Croid hears the ruckus, and comes over.

He looks at her, and goes, "Oh my! What happened?"

"Something triggered her." Clank says quickly. "It is a long story. Is there somewhere I can put her?" She's usually unconscious for 45 minutes at the least, two hours at the most. You know this isn't Ari's fault, but it is still terribly inconvenient.

"Yes, I do have an infirmary close by-now do be careful, mind her head." You know that You've done this before.

"Does she do that often?" Nefarious mutters. He's only seen this twice.

"No." You say quickly, following Croid to the room he directs you in. You carefully place her in the bed. You tuck her under the covers. You sit loyally by her side-you're made at her, but…you love her. And you can't leave her-not like this. "You guys tired?" You ask.

"Pretty." Qwark yawns, and Nefarious and Clank mention they need to charge-their version of sleep.

"Doctor Croid," Clank start. "Is it okay…if we…stay here? If only for the night?" It has been a very long day. You're tired. Your legs hurt. And Clank and Nefarious' batteries are draining.

"Of course, I do not mind." He says, walking away back over to the critters in the pen.

**Clank's POV:**

You'd glad for this rest stop. You…need to examine Doctor Croid. This man does not appear to be well. And you would also like to take a look at his research. What was that he said about rocks and vessels? Something is telling you it's more than the Doctor's little spouts of insanity.

You look over at Qwark and Nefarious; Qwark's already crawled into a different bed, and Nefarious is out as well, charging. You stare at Arianna and Ratchet. He's holding tightly onto her hand, resting his forehead on it. You're sure now-more than ever-that he loves her-he's in love with her. And you hope for both of their sakes that she will be alright.

**Okay YES. This story is hitting the end! Just a few more chapters, and then it's DONE. Wow, three stories will be complete! I'm proud of myself! Yeah, sorry this update (these updates) took (take) so long. I just have a ton of schoolwork to deal with. Once summer comes-I can finally finish all of my stories.**

**See you (probably not) soon!**

**~Mimi**


	13. Chapter XIII

**So...sorry about the wait. My computer crashed, and...yeah, my hard drive went, and so did all of my chapters. And my tablet stopped working. So I couldn't write or draw. And my TV stopped working. So I couldn't play Skyrim either. So...yeah. I've been in a bit of a bad mood lately. So here's the update ya'll have been waiting for...for like...yeah, months.**

* * *

><p><strong>Your POV:<strong>

You...you can't believe the screaming headache you have. Ow, why does your head hurt so badly? You move your arms to get the feeling back in your limbs, and brush your fingers against the soft fabric that's covering you and you lift your head up. You look at your hands, and your heart lurches.

Why are you wearing your disguise? You reach at your neck, and sure enough, the chip is implanted in your skin. Your hands feel like skin, not fur, and your eyes are back to green, and not the reddish-brown they really are. What's happened? And...where are you? What kind of place is this!? The walls-they're made out of something...and it's not metal. There are weird windows-and things that are on the ground that look like vehicles but with little...circle...things...and what is going on?

You kick your legs off the bed, and stand up, and try walking, and while you have to support yourself on the wall, you can still walk. You head down the stairs, and...there's someone waiting there for you.

He looks like...you...when you're wearing your disguise. He's got light hair, eyes, and skin, and he's...dressed in some bizarre fashion, and he's a little on the short side, but not as short as Ratchet-

RATCHET!

Ratchet, Clank, and...Qwark and Nefarious-where are they? Where are you? Where's your wrench? You reach into your pocket, and your father's pocketwatch isn't there either! "Who are you?" You immediately snap.

He stares at you. "Ari, it's me-Patrick, your sister's friend, remember?"

_Sister_? You don't have a sister. "I have no idea what you're talking about! My name is Arianna, and I don't have a sister."

He sighs and rubs his head. "You did, anyway; Cerlie. She went missing again a little while ago. Everyone says you died. What happened, anyway? You went up in space, and they lost contact with you-Arianna, really, what happened?"

You think about what happened. Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, Nefarious, your father, the amnesia, the fights, the robots, the different species, all of the conflicts-everything you've been through, and there's not enough time in this dimension to tell him about everything in the right order.

"How did you find me?" You ask.

"I literally have no idea-I just found you; I almost didn't believe it at first. My only clue is that you were spending time at a BBC studio."

"What?"

He pulls a small piece of yellowed, textured paper from his pocket, and hands it to you. It looks...old. Very old, and very worn. You've seen pictures of it in some of Clank's books. It's called...p...parchment? You read it, and the word echoes in your head.

_Merlin._

* * *

><p><strong>Ratchet's POV:<strong>

You fell asleep in the chair next to Ari's bed, but when you open your eyes, she's not there. She isn't there. Panic rises in your chest and jump up, knocking your chair over, and you start tearing the place apart looking for her. Clank wakes up, and looks around. Alarmed, he asks, "Where is Arianna?"

"I don't know." You say, heading up the hall. Eventually, you wake Qwark and Nefarious, who join the search.

"Um, hey, isn't this her...thing?" Qwark asks, holding up Arianna's picture of Kaden and Azimuth.

"That is Arianna's pocketwatch," Clank says.

"Arianna never would've left without this," You say. She wouldn't have left without telling someone. She wouldn't have left without telling you. She'd leave a note or something; she'd have the sense to do that. "Something happened to her! You think that Ephemeris took her?"

"I doubt it." Nefarious says. "We probably would've heard that."

"Then _what_?" You yell.

"What is all this ruckus?" Dr. Croid appears, walking down the hall. He looks at you for a moment, and then asks, "Weren't there five of you last night?"

* * *

><p><strong>There you go. Last chapter, besides the epilogue, and the credits. You guys must really hate me right now, huh? Don't worry; everything's gonna work out in the end.<strong>

**See you soon!**

**~Mimi Sweet**


End file.
